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da prosport bet： This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…
As reported by TEAMtalk, Southampton are among a number of clubs chasing Motherwell forward James Scott, along with Bournemouth, Everton and Sheffield United – however, do the Saints need another forward?
What’s the situation looking like?
Well, Ralph Hasenhuttl currently has an abundance of attacking options at his disposal right now.
The former RB Leipzig boss has the following players to choose from in attack:
– Che Adams
– Nathan Redmond
– Danny Ings
– Shane Long
– Michael Obafemi
– Sofiane Boufal
– Moussa Djenepo
If we were to assume that the Austrian will continue to use the 3-4-2-1 formation which he deployed last time out against Sheffield United, then that leaves only three spaces available for seven attacking players to fight over – that is without including midfielder James Ward-Prowse, who began in a centre attacking-midfield role against the Blades.
This leaves Hasenhuttl with a bit of a selection headache in attack, and while he eased that issue somewhat by finding a place for Djenepo at left wing-back, he still has far too many forwards.
Must sell one before signing Scott
Admittedly, Scott – who has four goals in 24 appearances for Motherwell – is just 19 years of age and would probably be getting ahead of himself if he were to expect an immediate first-team place at Southampton.
However, the aforementioned Obafemi is also just 19, and Hasenhuttl has already given him some game time this term, with the teenager scoring against Fulham – the Saints boss likes to give young players such as Obafemi and Yan Valery opportunities.
So, if the Saints do intend to fight off competition from Sheffield United, Everton and Bournemouth for the Motherwell prospect, then they really should consider selling a forward.
By doing that, they will be allowing Scott to have a realistic pathway into the first-team, rather than making him battle against experienced names such as £20m man Ings – who himself has only started three out of five league games this term.