A year ago Saints supporters at Leicester City were jumping in celebration when new signing Sekou Mara ran on to a through all and calmly slotted it home to give Southampton the lead, only he didn’t, VAR ruled it marginally offside and what looked like a dream start to his time at St Mary’s soon turned into a tough old season for the striker.

A year on and Sekou Mara still has plenty of doubters in the Southampton supporter base, but could Leicester City finally be a breakthrough moment for Mara after his debut goal for the France U21 side this week.

Mara came off the bench for France against Slovenia U21’s and in the 88th minutes slid the ball home for his debut goal at that level and it should perhaps make Saints fans think that he can be a force to be reckoned with at Championship level, even if he didn’t quite impress in the Premier League.

He is not ready yet for a place in the starting line up, but coming off the bench he could well impress if he is judged on what he does going forward and not weighed down by criticism from last season.

This weekend Leicester are the opponents again, this time at St Mary’s and hopefully Saints can repeat last season’s double against Leicester after going on to with the game away from home 2-1 and following it up with a victory at St Mary’s.

There is no doubt Saints have firepower, Adam Armstrong & Che Adams are both proven at this level and although Nathan Tella has gone, there is Ross Stewart who will be hopefully approaching fitness by the end of the month not to mention Charly Alcaraz and Sulemana and this is an attacking environment that Sekou Mara might just flourish in, perhaps not as a started, but in cameo roles from the bench as he did for the French this week.

Photo: Action Images

WestSussexSaint added 18:33 - Sep 12 There is no doubt the lad has talent, but unfortunately he has only shown glimpses of it such as his goal against Man City in last seasons cup game. It doesn’t help if he is played out of position as we saw against Sunderland, he is a centre forward so should be played there. His main problem will be game time opportunities especially when Ross Stewart is fit.
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Block8 added 18:35 - Sep 12 It's been difficult to truly rate any of our strikers over the last few seasons due to game time, service, team selection and tactics. A striker more than any other position needs games to fine tune movement & positioning, it's difficult to drop in and out of games with any continuity. Also lone striker or pair, attacking or defensive team selection all have an effect. And probably confidence is the biggest factor score a few and it becomes easier, miss a couple and get dropped confidence goes with it. He may well become a good striker but if he isn't playing we'll never know. In my opinion he was one who would have benefitted from a loan, preferably within the UK.

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underweststand added 19:17 - Sep 12 the flaw in a young player's game is inconsistancy. Yes -Mara looks good in short phases, but many times he has gone AWOL and not got involved with the play at all. It's good that he's got some attention -even scoring a late sub's. goal when the game was already won but without any game time at all he won't improve enough to get picked . Without Ballard (now on loan) the U21's have had a torrid start to their season and perhaps Mara could sharpen his scoring skills and pick up a few goals there. If he can continue highlighting at international level, he might even get interest from some top French clubs, but " one swallow doesn't make a summer " and unless he can get into the action on a regular basis ; I'm not sure I'd even have him on the bench right now.

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felly1 added 19:30 - Sep 12 He's got a nice touch and technique but doesn't seem willing to bust a gut for the team. Whether that comes with maturity.. Who knows. When you've got Prem money pouring in he was probably worth a 10m punt. At this level with reduced finances I can't help but feel he's an unnecessary passenger. We could have got away with Ballard as a back up.
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A1079 added 22:20 - Sep 12 I have nothing against Mara and I think everyone is willing him to do well, but he needs to start producing good performances regularly and effectively for us and thus far (apart from a very occasional glimpse) I have not seen it - yet he keeps getting picked, which is a bit galling when we let Ballard be loaned out and has not had the same opportunity.
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Peterx added 10:52 - Sep 13 Jury is still out, two pieces of brilliance in his time here (KWP assist, MC goal) but also a lot of times when he has been totally absent when he has been on the pitch. I still feel he could be one of those who get really far in their careers though.
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SaintPaulVW added 11:30 - Sep 13 Agree with most of the above. Occasional flashes of his undoubted talent are not enough. We need to see it regularly. Fingers crossed that we do. COYR
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Block8 added 14:08 - Sep 13 To be fair look at the stats - 2022/23, Sékou Mara played 4 matches (plus 18 as a sub), had 4 shots on target from a total of 14 shots and scored 1 goal & 2 assists. 4 starts can't do much for his confidence!
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kingolaf added 11:07 - Sep 14 Has ability but needs to build character.
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