5 talking points from Southampton’s first two pre-season friendlies

Players building up fitness well

In the 1-1 draw with Fulham, defender Mohammed Salisu played the full 90 minutes despite the majority of his teammates playing just one half.

This will be pleasing for Saints fans who saw the Ghanaian battle injury for a long time last season before eventually being able to come in for appearances in defence. When he played, the 22-year-old impressed too with dominant displays at the back.

It remains to be seen whether Salisu will push himself ahead of first-choice pairing Jan Bednarek and Jannik Vestergaard now but he certainly has the quality to become a top player in the future. Rumours about Vestergaard’s future rumble on and Saints will know that they have a ready replacement if needed.

As mentioned before, Oriol Romeu’s performance was excellent. It is good to see him back and performing at such a high level after the ankle fracture that kept him out of action for much of 2020/21.

Both he and Salisu will prove to be big parts of the team if they can stave off previous fitness worries for good.