Following intense speculation over his future, it seems almost inevitable that Southampton midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin will be moving on from St Mary’s this summer.
After seven years on the south coast, Schneiderlin is heavily rumoured to be joining Manchester United for a fee rumoured to be in the region of £24m, and achieving his wish of playing UEFA Champions League football ahead of EURO 2016, held in his native France.
It wouldn't been six years if Schneiderlin had his way, having expressed a desire to leave following interest from Tottenham Hotspur last summer. But after the club had already sold five key players, the Saints board were desperate to keep hold of their prized midfielder, and convinced him to stay for one last season.
Replacement
And whilst many Saints fans will be sad to see the Frenchman leave after being part of a squad that has led the club from administration and League One football to the Europa League, many will also be wondering just exactly who will replace him at the heart of the Southampton midfield.
The £24m will be welcome to Saints boss Ronald Koeman to boost his transfer budget to bolster his squad ahead of their first season in Europe since 2003, but it’ll be difficult to replace the player who has made the most tackles and interceptions since the Saints were promoted to the Premier League in 2012.
Gossip pages have been rife, not just with the Schneiderlin transfer saga itsel and whether he will end up at Old Trafford or at long-term admirers Arsenal, but with his potential replacements, with many agents desperate to link their clients to the Saints.
Missing out
But because of the way the Frenchman’s transfer from the South Coast has seemed to drag on, with United desperate to haggle down the price, it seems like Saints may miss out on prime targets themselves.
Marseille midfielder Gianelli Imbula seems to be one of them. With L’OM president Vincent Labrune desperate to balance the books ahead of the end fo the financial year on June 30th, Saints looked to take advantage and secure the 22 year old.
But despite offering to take Imbula on a season long loan, with an obligation to pay around €19m for the French U21-star next summer, it seems like FC Porto are going to win the race to sign him for around €25m.
That deal going through could also count against Southampton again, as Marseille look set to replace Imbula with Lille midfielder Idrissa Gueye, who himself was rumoured to be replacing Schneiderlin.
Familiar foe?
Another Ligue 1 player that is reported to have been interesting the Saints is PSG playmaker Yohan Cabaye. Despite impressing in the Premier League whilst at Newcastle, Cabaye seems surplus to requirements at the Parc De Princes.
However, with the midfielder turning 30 next year, Southampton’s transfer committee may decide that Cabaye doesn’t have enough resale value, and he instead is heavily rumoured to be linking up with his old Newcastle manager Alan Pardew at Crystal Palace.
Southampton could instead turn to the younger alternative of Torino star Marco Benassi. The 20-year-old, who now fully owned by il Toro after they bought him out of the co-ownership agreement they had with Serie A giants Inter Milan, was linked with Saints recently in Gazzetta Dello Sport for around €8m.
Old friend
Yet Southampton manager Ronald Koeman’s prime target to replace Morgan Schneiderlin could be someone who he knows very well from his three years at Feyenoord.
Dutch international Jordy Clasie is currently captain at De Kuip, yet despite signing a four year contract at the Eredivisie club last August seems as likely to leave Rotterdam as Schneiderlin is at Southampton.
Both AS Roma and Lazio are both reportedly interested in bringing Clasie to the Italian capital and Serie A, with both Rome clubs able to offer Champions League football to Feyenoord’s star man, who came through the ranks at the clubs’ highly-lauded Varkenoord academy.
Yet, Koeman and Clasie have a very strong bond from their time working together, with the 24 year old saying when Koeman left that ‘he taught me to be a leader’, and the pull of the Premier League under a familiar face may be an opportunity too hard to turn down.
Young star
However, with preseason starting yesterday, Koeman may decide that the best Schneiderlin replacement he can find could be staring himself in the face, with England under-20s man Harrison Reed, likened to Manchester United legend Paul Scholes, expected to make much more of an impact in the Saints first team next season.
Indeed, Reed is very highly rated at Staplewood Campus, and after training with Schneiderlin for the best part of three years, it could be a shrewd move to give a player from their highly-coveted academy a chance to shine.
It’ll be sad for the fans to see someone who has grown with Southampton so much ever since he joined from Strasbourg in 2008, but Saints fans will have to trust the transfer committee to find a solid replacement for the Frenchman.