da aposte e ganhe： Southampton secured a fourth successive top-half finish in the Premier League last season after ending the campaign in eighth-place, but it could have been even better had they had an effective box-to-box midfielder.
da brwin： Saints started the season playing a 4-4-2 diamond formation under the leadership of former boss Claude Puel, but the players struggled to adapt to it having been used to the 4-2-3-1 system that had been used regularly beforehand.
Puel eventually reverted back to the 4-2-3-1 system in the second-half of the season and Steven Davis started alongside defensive midfielder Oriol Romeu in the two.
However, it was quickly apparent that the Northern Ireland captain no longer has the legs or strength and stamina required to play in that role effectively, and he struggled to provide the attacking threat that was needed – the south coast outfit ended the campaign having netted just 41 times in their 38 Premier League games.
It is certainly an area that new Saints boss Mauricio Pellegrino must be looking at, and he may well be working with Les Reed to select possible targets for the position.
Here are three box-to-box midfielders Southampton should be targeting…
Marco Benassi
The Torino and Italy Under-21 captain has established himself as a key man for club and country in recent years and he continues to impress with the level of his performances.
The 22-year-old has made 85 Serie A appearances for Torino since joining them from Inter Milan in 2014, and he showed his attacking prowess by scoring five goals and providing a further three assists in 28 league outings last term.
Strong and with the ability to get up and down the pitch and beat his man – he completed 15 of the 23 take-ons he attempted in Serie A last term – he could be the perfect partner for Oriol Romeu.
Morgan Sanson
The 22-year-old only joined Marseille from Montpellier during the January transfer window, but his performances throughout the season will have certainly caught the attention of a number of clubs.
Sanson scored three goals and provided a further seven assists in 20 Ligue 1 appearances for Montpellier, before netting once and assisting seven more for Marseille in 18 outings.
That creativity and goalscoring threat from the middle of the park is especially impressive and should have alerted Southampton, with Romeu, Davis, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Jordy Clasie scoring just one Premier League goal between them last term.
Wylan Cyprien
The 22-year-old played a key role in Nice being title contenders for much of the Ligue 1 season last time out, and he scored eight goals and provided a further three assists from the middle of the park before suffering a rupture of his cruciate ligament in March.
The France Under-21 international certainly wasn’t just about the goals though, and he proved his qualities on the ball by have a passing accuracy of 89%, while he showed his energy and ability to take players on by completing a remarkable 56 of the 64 take-ons he attempted.
Nice confirmed at the time that he would miss the rest of the season and he is likely to be out for the rest of 2017 too.
Southampton will certainly want to see how he recovers before making an attempt to sign him, and he could be on their radar for a potential move next year if a deal can’t be done this summer.
Do you agree, Saints fans? Let us know below.