Here's a name plenty of you will have forgotten already. Daouda Traoré signed two summers ago and hasn't kicked a competitive ball for the club since.
That's about to change, only not at St Mary's. According to L'Equipe, the 20-year-old is set to join newly promoted Le Mans on loan with an option to buy.
Off to the top flight
Le Mans are back in Ligue 1 for the first time in sixteen years. For a young midfielder who has spent his whole Saints career out on loan, that's a proper step up.
Traoré arrived from OGC Nice in 2024 and went straight to Valenciennes, where he racked up 33 games in the French third tier. Last season he sat with Real Betis, mostly turning out for their reserve side.
So this is the first time anyone will ask him to hold his own in a top division. Le Mans won't be favourites for much beyond survival.
That should mean a scrappy season and plenty of minutes for anyone good enough to grab them. Saints Marching covered his first senior steps when the loans began.
The club clearly likes the raw material, even if he never got a proper crack at the first team.
A tidy bit of business for the Saints
Now the interesting part. The deal carries an option to buy, so Le Mans can make it permanent if the loan goes well.
Transfermarkt values him at around £340,000. That's project money, and he's not the finished article.
He was never in the Championship plans. Turn that into a fee down the line and it counts as shrewd work.
A France Under-17 international getting a Ligue 1 shop window can only help his price. Southampton have bigger fish to fry this summer.
They've a four-point deduction to claw back and a bloated squad to trim. Getting a fringe name off the wage bill while keeping a sell-on route open is exactly the housekeeping a Championship budget needs.
Saints Marching flagged him among the fringe men leaving this year. This move fits that read to a tee.
Nobody around St Mary's will lose sleep over the exit. A top-flight platform for the kid suits everyone, though.
For Southampton this is quiet, sensible stuff. A forgotten squad number gets his big chance, the wage bill lightens, and there's a fee waiting if he flies.
Verdict: a low-risk exit that could pay off nicely.
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