It has been confirmed that Jeremy Pied will miss the rest of the season after injuring his knee in training, so do Saints keep Martina or let him go and look elsewhere.

The luck has not been with Saints so far this season and the situation has just got worse with the news that Jeremy Pied has snapped his cruciate ligament and will be out for at least six months therefore effectively ending his season.

That puts us back to square one in terms of the situation at right back, Cuco Martina is still at the club but the dilemma is that Everton have a £2.5 million offer on the table and this deal was about to be done until Pied's injury.

This is a good offer for Saints given that Martina only has a year left on his contract and that it is far higher than the £1 million that we paid for him just over a year ago, however it appears that the only people who rated Martina at St Mary's where the Koeman brothers.

The player himself understandably wants to move, so Saints have to make a quick decision whether to hold on to Martina who would then leave for nothing or sign a new right back as cover, the issue being that there is little time to source one at this late notice.

If Martina was allowed to go and no replacement was signed then the only true cover would be Yann Valery who although highly rated is still only 17, however that has not stopped Saints before, if a player is good enough then he is old enough.

Personally I would like to see Saints proceeed with the Martina deal and look to bring a player in on loan as cover.

Photo: Action Images

Bettwsresident added 08:58 - Aug 29 FFS! what is it with cruciates at saints...further to this it seems we are about to buy Boufral, who if the reports are right it in the situation j rod was last year..just coming back from a cruciate injury.
0

A1079 added 09:11 - Aug 29 We seem to have an appalling record of long term injuries. It must raise questions about training or training surfaces or something. Arsenal have a similar or worse record and questions have been raised about their regime and schedule. What with close season issues and injuries etc we never seem to start the season up and flying and ready to go. Some self-inflicted, others seemingly misfortune.

0

DPeps added 10:23 - Aug 29 For me, it's a better-the-devil-you-know situation. Martina has been good when called upon, and I doubt we'd get a better replacement unless we're willing to pay more wage. By the way, reports say that Boufal's injury is meniscus (i.e. cartilage tear) not cruciate rupture, so shouldn't be anywhere near as bad as as Jay R.
1

highfield49 added 10:39 - Aug 29 Perhaps the efforts to sign Chambers will now be stepped up? Automatic cover for right back whilst pushing for a regular start in central defence.
0

SanMarco added 11:00 - Aug 29 Is it just me or is the "How the Saints Are Shaping Up" article from 8 August 2015 that appears on the right of my screen just a tad out of date???
0

Lazz added 13:43 - Aug 29 ​Southampton have confirmed the signing of winger Sofiane Boufal from Lille for a club record fee, although the exact amount remains undisclosed.
0

aceofthebase added 14:00 - Aug 29 KEEP MARTINA!
0

aceofthebase added 14:01 - Aug 29 Give Martina a five year contract
0

SanMarco added 14:10 - Aug 29 Make it ten Ace
1

TeamCortese added 20:50 - Aug 29 Keep Martina! I'm not sure what he's done terribly wrong apart from a score a screamer against Arsenal last season......
1

Blogs 31 bloggers

Southampton Polls