Following Kyle Walker-Peters' progressing transfer to the Turkish top-flight, the Saints have lost their transfer ground yet again for a decent fullback candidate to another club there.
Currently, Kyle Walker-Peters moving to Turkish club Besiktas seems to be a matter of time. A brief duration which will have the Saints lamenting the 28-year-old's awful call in the face of an even better deal in hindsight.
Obviously, Southampton have no better business than to forget that incident but the then interested party, Galatasaray, will treat Walker-Peters as their league and even title competitors. Despite that, the worrying aspect is another fullback whom the Saints wished to have on their hands for the upcoming campaign has also followed Walker-Peters to Turkey, at a different outfit though.
Joe Mendes leaves Saints scrambling for fullback help
It's 22-year-old Swedish Joe Mendes who was touted to go down the St. Mary's route on the back of a commendable European season. A pair of fresh legs is all Southampton needed on their flanks, so, Mendes could have completed the club's defence to an extent where Still had options to play around with Sugawara as a wide midfielder or as a key substitute at times.
However, Samsunspor have foiled those plans with their president, Yuksel Yildrim saying: "As of now, we have reached an agreement with Joe Mendes on all matters."
It's unquestionably clear that Southampton are falling fast in the defender's pool but being outpaced by various leagues needs a strategic overhaul. Testing out players from the U21 team can bring depth to Still's disposal, but throwing them into the matchday end would rarely cross the Englishman's mind.
Accordingly, finding talent down the divisions can be necessary later on, where reasonably experienced stars like Bali Mumba could be good player picks worth considering.