Former Southampton star scores in brilliant Champions League comeback

Southampton are currently nineteenth in the league table after six matches into their return to the Premier League. While the Saints have shown some encouraging signs of progress in the Carabao Cup, their underwhelming displays in the league have increased the chances of them facing a relegation battle towards the end of the season. The Saints had recently achieved promotion back to the English top flight after a disappointing relegation in the 2022/23 season, where they played with three different managers.

Moreover, the Saints saw a number of their first team stars such as James Ward-Prowse, Tino Livramento and Romeo Lavia depart in the following summer transfer window as they prepared for their Championship campaign. Such a situation can still arise next year, if Russell Martin's side are unable to avoid relegation in the Premier League. Several promising first team players such as Tyler Dibling, Mateus Fernandes, Kyle Walker-Peters and Yukinari Sugawara may depart the St. Mary's Stadium to join the Premier League teams, which will be an unfavourable situation for the Saints to again achieve promotion from the Championship.

Former Southampton star scores in brilliant Champions League comeback

Last year, there was another key player who departed Southampton to play in Europe's top five leagues. The player is 25-year-old centre-back Mohammed Salisu, who joined Southampton from La Liga side Valladolid four years ago and quickly became a reliable squad player under former manager Ralph Hassenhuttl. However, injuries sidelined him for a large part of the 2022/23 season and as a result, Southampton struggled in the league with Salisu joining Ligue 1 side Monaco for a transfer fee of £15 million at the end of that season.

Recently, Salisu scored his first UEFA Champions League goal for Monaco, helping them to make a comeback from 2-0 down to level the match at 2-2. The former Southampton star displayed his defensive solidity in Monaco's 2-1 win over Barcelona a few weeks ago, and continued his impressive form in the Champions League by scoring the first goal for Monaco against Dinamo Zagreb. However, Salisu could have been a star player for Southampton in the Premier League if the Saints had avoided relegation that season.

Hence, Salisu's rise to becoming a starter at Monaco instead of Southampton highlights the need for the Saints to make a comeback in the upcoming Premier League matches and aim for a mid-table finish at the end of the season.