In this summer transfer window, former Manchester City academy talent Samuel Edozie, left Southampton on a loan move to join Belgian side Anderlecht. Edozie showed his huge potential in the Championship last season as he scored six goals and provided three assists to help Southampton achieve promotion to the Premier League. However, his performances were largely inconsistent for Southampton and therefore, he decided to join Anderlecht on a season long loan move in order to get more playing time.
This season, Edozie made his Anderlecht debut coming on as a second half substitute in a 2-2 draw with Westerlo. His encouraging performances led him to get more playing time in the starting lineup and now Edozie has made his UEFA Europa League debut as well. In Anderlecht's recent 2-1 win over Ferencvaros, Samuel Edozie started in his preferred left wing position and was one of the best players for the Belgian side throughout the match.
Southampton's on-loan star makes impressive Europa League debut
Edozie successfully completed 14 out of 15 passes and made two key passes inside the final third. The 21-year-old constantly created more spaces behind the Ferencvaros midfield and even won a penalty, which was scored by Kasper Dolberg to double Anderlecht's lead to 2-0. Edozie was substituted with around twenty minutes remaining in the match and Anderlecht defended well to take a 2-1 win in the match.
This was a brilliant display from Edozie in his Europa League debut and the talented forward will aim to maintain his good form by scoring his first goal for Anderlecht in the upcoming matches. Meanwhile, Southampton have enough squad depth at the left wing position but they need to find a well balanced lineup to build on their recent encouraging performances and take their first win of the new Premier League season.
Now, it remains to be seen whether the Saints will improve their finishing in front of goal in the upcoming match against Bournemouth.