Southampton are keen to appoint a player trading expert to replace the club’s former director of football operations, Ross Wilson, who has recently quit the club to join Rangers as reported by BBC Sport.
As reported by The Daily Southern Echo, the Saints are taking a different approach to replacing Wilson’s vacant spot at the club, with the report claiming that under the guidance of vice-chairman, Martin Semmens, the appointment of a player trading expert is the next step in taking the Premier League side back to the ‘Southampton Way’.
With Wilson’s record at signing players being extremely mixed, this new approach to bringing in new faces could be beneficial for Southampton, who over the past few years have gone from signing smartly in the form of players like Virgil van Dijk, Sadio Mane and Dusan Tadic to overpaying for flops such as Guido Carrillo, Mario Lemina and Wesley Hoedt.
Indeed, this new position on paper seems like a bright move for Southampton, who this summer had a very quiet front in signing new players as the Saints only welcomed Che Adams and Moussa Djenepo to St. Mary’s, whilst an abundance of names departed the club as records from Transfermarkt show.
The appointment of a player trading expert could signal the beginning of a new approach to player recruitment for the Saints, and with Ralph Hasenhuttl’s job in the long-term seemingly safe with the club reportedly committed to the former RB Leipzig manager as stated in the aforementioned report, the plan to transform Southampton is beginning to take shape.
The Saints have lost a few years of progress with the mismanaged player recruitment strategy under Wilson, but now the club can begin to build from scratch after a few promising years following their return to the Premier League.
