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Allowing two goalkeepers to leave Southampton could impact the one remaining – opinion

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Last week Ralph Hasenhuttl admitted he was willing to listen to offers for Fraser Forster and Alex McCarthy, according to Sky Sports.

Towards the end of last season, both players found themselves out of the first team, with Angus Gunn appearing to be the first choice.

Hasenhuttl took over at St Mary’s in December but Gunn had to wait until February to get his chance. It was a chance he took with both gloves, as he played out all remaining league games except one.

In his 12 league appearances last season he kept three clean sheets and is now valued at £9million by Transfermarkt.

When compared with each other it is McCarthy that achieves the best rating according to WhoScored.com. They gave him a score of 6.58 while Gunn was 6.37 and Forster was 6.36.

The report also claimed the Southampton manager wanted to sell players to raise transfer funds and make more available in wages.

Spotrac claim Forster is the joint-second highest earner at the club, on £70,000-per-week, which will now seem too much for the third-choice keeper. They also state McCarthy earns £50,000-per-week, again for a club the size of Southampton it is a lot of money to be paying a substitute.

If Forster and McCarthy are sold it will leave Gunn as the only senior goalkeeper at St Mary’s, so it would not be difficult to imagine Hasenhuttl wanting a new keeper at the club.

If that is indeed the case, Gunn should possibly be worried about his place in the team. Allowing the two keepers to leave may actually harm all three of the Saints shot-stoppers.

Hasenhuttl knows German football very well but has not signed a player from that nation as yet. It is not difficult when looking at some current players to determine that Germany knows how to produce a goalkeeper. Bernd Leno, Manuel Neuer, Marc-Andre ter Stegen, and Kevin Trapp are just some of those.

So far, Hasenhuttl has concentrated on getting attackers through the door, signing Moussa Djenepo and Che Adams. However, if the Austrian focuses on the GK position it could be argued the existing goalkeepers should be concerned for their places.

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