In-form Serie A winner thriving at new club after £18 million Southampton star's failed transfer

Southampton signed 22-year-old left-wing prodigy Kamaldeen Sulemana from Ligue 1 side Rennes last year in a £18 million transfer move. Expected to spark creativity and flair in the lacklustre Southampton attack during the second half of the 2022/23 Premier League season, Sulemana hasn't managed to establish himself as a regular starter for the Saints in the front three.

In the Championship, Sulemana managed to register only three goal contributions and became the third choice left-sided forward for the Saints after Che Adams and Anderlecht's on-loan star Samuel Edozie. Despite the departures of both forwards in this transfer window, Sulemana was expected to leave Russell Martin's side on a season-long loan move after struggling in the preseason.

In-form Serie A winner thriving at new club after £18 million Southampton star's failed transfer

Eredivisie side Ajax were interested in signing Sulemana on a loan move and even agreed to a transfer move with Southampton as well, but couldn't manage to complete Sulemana's signing on the final day of the summer transfer window. Therefore, Sulemana stayed at the St. Mary's Stadium, however, the 22-year-old's failed transfer to Ajax has led to an in-form Serie A winner thriving at the Eredivisie side.

The player is former Ajax midfielder Davy Klaassen, who spent eight brilliant years at the club before leaving them on a free transfer to join Serie A side Inter Milan last year. Although Klaassen won the Serie A with Simone Inzaghi's side, the Netherlands international struggled for regular playing time due to being the third-choice playmaker after Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Hakan Calhanoglu at Inter Milan.

Further Piotr Zielinski's arrival at Inter Milan on a free transfer in this transfer window led Klaassen to return to Ajax in order to get more playing time. Since then, Klaassen has found his best form again for Francesco Farioli's side by scoring four goals and providing an assist in six league matches.

Recently, Klaassen scored an important match-winning penalty for Ajax to find the back of the net in the third consecutive game for the fourth-placed Eredivisie side and reflected on his summer transfer move, saying,

"I do have that feeling, yes. If Sulemana had come, I wouldn’t have been here."

- Davy Klaassen

The 31-year-old admitted that he might have been struggling to get first-team playing time at Inter Milan if Sulemana had joined Ajax. However, that isn't the case and Sulemana is now aiming to be a key player for Southampton after recently recovering from his injury.

Sulemana gave an assist on James Bree's match-winning goal against Stoke City in the Carabao Cup and could feature in the upcoming matches against Everton and Wolves as a second-half substitute.