Sofiane Boufal didn’t seem like a player capable of returning to Southampton and proving the doubters, manager and his teammates wrong after a year away in Spain, yet the winger is proving everybody wrong.
The former Lille star has been one of the Saints’ most impressive players this season, with the tricky attacker already notching up two assists in the Premier League and proving to be a name that Ralph Hasenhuttl trusts in the starting XI, with the Austrian manager fielding Boufal in all but one league game so far as numbers from Transfermarkt show.
Indeed, the Moroccan international has redeemed himself to everyone at the club, and in a recent interview on the Saint’s official website, it appears that Boufal had no intention of leaving the south coast side in the previous summer, with the attacker saying: “I love this club, I love the fans, and I am very happy to be back to play for this team and I am excited about this season.”
Boufal, who is valued on Transfermarkt at £10.8m, has been a force this season, and his actions both on and off the pitch paint a picture of a player that is eager to show the world what is he capable of, and so far he is doing just that, proving to Southampton that they were right to hand the 26-year-old winger a priceless second chance.
We have seen players at clubs all over the globe attempt to make the most of their second chance at a team. Some succeed, like Boufal is doing this season, and others fail and fall into obscurity, and this latest interview from the former Ligue 1 attacker is evidence that Southampton, who were ruthless in the summer in shipping off players who weren’t right the side, were on the mark with the number 19.
