Journalist Alfie House says Brighton striker Evan Ferguson’s sudden availability on loan makes Southampton’s move for Maxwel Cornet ‘look even worse’ after the Ivorian’s struggling start to the Premier League season.
Southampton have slumped to yet another defeat at the weekend, dropping their second-half lead to lose 3-2 to league leaders Liverpool, with some individual performances particularly concerning Russell Martin.
Cornet, however, was nowhere to be seen on Sunday as he missed out on Martin’s matchday squad for a third time in a row. His last appearance occurred on 30 September in a 3-1 loss to Bournemouth.
The 28-year-old has struggled for regular minutes at St. Mary’s ever since his loan arrival in the final week of the transfer window, and has only amassed 71 minutes of top-flight action for Southampton this term.
House took to X to express his frustration over Cornet’s disappointing spell under Martin, and suggested Saints’ decision to bring the Ivorian on loan now ‘looks even worse’ after Evan Ferguson’s reported availability for a move in January.
Having signed Cornet and Chelsea midfielder Lesley Ugochukwu on season-long loans during the summer transfer window, Southampton would have to terminate one of the two deals if they wanted to enter the race for Ferguson’s arrival on a temporary deal in January.
Premier League rules do not allow clubs to register more than two players on loan at any one time, and the maximum number of loans registrable in the same season is four.
The lowest-scoring team in the division, Southampton have netted just nine in their first 12 games as pressure continues to build on Martin.
Sunday’s defeat to Liverpool saw the Saints remain bottom of the Premier League table, having collected just four points from 36 available.
Southampton are now five points off safety going into another two tough tests – they face a visit to Brighton followed by a home clash against Chelsea in the next seven days.
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Statistics courtesy of Transfermarkt**. Correct as of 2 7 -11-24.**