Southampton look set to move on Juan Larios in the January window. The 22-year-old left-back is currently on loan at Cultural Leonesa. After joining Saints from Manchester City for around £6 million in 2022, the Spaniard has barely featured for the Saints.
He now looks destined for a permanent exit rather than a future back at St Mary’s.
Larios arrived with potential and a high ceiling. He came through the academies of Sevilla and Barcelona before moving to Manchester City and then to Southampton. He made three short appearances for the Saints in the Premier League in the 2022-23 season.
A disappointing loan spell proved nothing about Larios' potential
A hamstring injury curtailed his development, and Larios missed the rest of the season as a result. A loan move to Cultural Leonesa was meant to give him a platform to play senior football, but that has not really materialised. Reports indicate his minutes with Leonesa have been limited, and the club may now be preparing to part ways with him altogether.
For a player who showed promise in elite youth setups and earned youth caps for Spain, that is a disappointing development. Injuries and a lack of opportunity have derailed Larios' career. Progress at Southampton has proved elusive for Larios, and his development appears to be happening away from the club rather than with it.
There is a practical case for letting him go if another club values him and Southampton's scouts don't see a future for him at St Mary's. Young players need to play regularly to grow, and Larios has made only occasional appearances at Leonesa.
His contract remains with the Saints, but a fresh start might benefit the player's career more than a return to a left-back group that is currently well populated and where he would be unlikely to get minutes.
The worrying pattern beginning to emerge with academy recruits
The worry here is broader than one player. Southampton are beginning to struggle to convert promising academy recruits into regular first-team contributors. Sam Amo-Ameyaw, Samuel Edozie and even Jay Robinson are recent examples, although Cameron Bragg looks likely to buck the trend.
Larios’ situation feels familiar: a teenager with potential, but whose growth was not matched by the right opportunity at the right moment. That cost both him and Southampton a chance to see if he could have been part of the club’s long-term future. Some fans might even argue that Larios could be the best left-back at the club!
If Southampton do sell Larios, it should be with the understanding that this was not really a failure, but a perfect storm of factors that conspired to prevent him progressing at the club.
It is impossible to always get transfers right, especially with young defenders, but there is a difference between buying talent and then giving it the platform to flourish. The sale of Ronnie Edwards to QPR is a case in point.
Larios may yet thrive elsewhere, but this may end up feeling like a missed opportunity for the Saints staff to develop what once seemed like a promising left-back. Not to mention the £ 3 million loss.
It would be interesting to know if Tonda Eckert has even seen him play.