Kamaldeen Sulemana's preference to play first division football has given Southampton fresh hopes of eventually offloading him after witnessing a scarcity of potential suitors.
Recently, Southampton's standout fullback Francis Benali reminded the club of two failed signings in a bid to avoid the Saints repeating those decisions again. And those advices have come at the right moment considering today is the official opening of the transfer window's first leg.
Now, Benali's rallying cry also hinted at a non-negotiable task. To try and get the hefty contracts of the above mentioned duo, Onuachu and Sulemana, off of the Saints books.
Another brilliant idea which is a difficult one for Southampton to implement in reality. Not due to their preference for any of those player profiles, but because of only laughable transfer offers coming for them.
And up until now, Sulemana's exit rumours had almost dried at St. Mary's, which might improve from now onwards.
According to Africa Foot (via Sport Witness), the 23-year-old wide playmaker is aiming to stay in first division football and views Nantes as his perfect next destination.
Saints must strike a balance between Sulemana interest and transfer fee
That's interesting and if we rewind to January, Nantes were among the frontrunners for Sulemana's signature who discovered his best Southampton form during those weeks.
Again, the Saints fans wanted to see him finish the season at St. Mary's, which happened, but not in the red-hot scoring rhythm they wished.
Hence, it's wise to admit that Sulemana leaving will not invoke a feeling of "maybe he could still come good" again at St. Mary's.
But before getting too excited, Saints need to take the frustrating scenario of lowball offers also in consideration. That's because offloading one of the club's record signings for only a small fraction of the invested amount isn't a shrewd negotiation in the first place.
So, Southampton need to play safe on any potential deal so as not to scare away any interested suitors while not being on the receiving end of a no-brainer buy.