Ronald Koeman caused quite a stir last week when Southampton’s starting line-up and substitutes bench were revealed before the clash with Manchester City; there was no Graziano Pelle.

Pelle was an unused substitute when Southampton thrashed Aston Villa 4-2 at Villa Park and fans were assuming that he was being rested ahead of the game against City. However, that turned out not to be the case at all.

Southampton certainly proved that they could cope without the Italian, easing past Manchester City with another 4-2 victory. After the game, Koeman stated that the reason behind Pelle’s absence was that he wasn’t training well during the week.

This may be the case, but Koeman could also be paving the way for Pelle’s exit in the summer. The Italian will have just one year left on his contract at the end of the season and a move back to Italy looks like a very plausible scenario.

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Pelle will be 31-years-old in the summer and a new contract in unlikely given the number of talented, younger, forwards that Southampton already have at their disposal. Jay Rodriguez, Shane Long and Charlie Austin are all seemingly ahead of Pelle in the pecking order at the minute

However, despite a summer exit to Italy appearing to be the likely destination of Pelle, he could still have a part to play in the final two matches of the season. Pelle has netted 13 times this season and could yet add to that total in the remaining fixtures.

Southampton travel to face Tottenham this weekend before hosting Crystal Palace at St.Mary’s on the final day of the season. The Saints currently sit seventh in the Premier League and, realistically, need to win both of their games to achieve European Qualification for the second season running.

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I think Shane Long and Charlie Austin could both start against Spurs. Toby Aldeweireld and Danny Rose could both be missing through injury, which means it would be a good time to go all out attack on the Spurs defence that has been impressive all season. However, I do think that Pelle could have a part to play off the bench. If the scores are level with 20 minutes to go, Pelle could come on and prove the difference.

If he doesn’t play against Spurs then I fully expect him to feature in some capacity against Crystal Palace. If he is to leave in the summer, Koeman should let him have one last send off in front of the home fans. After all, he has been a very important player for Southampton in the last two campaigns. As it stands, Pelle has scored 29 goals in 78 games during his time in the South Coast.

I wouldn’t mind either way. If Pelle leaves, I think that there is plenty of quality up front to make up for his loss. On the other hand, if he stays, I think he would be a very good option to have. It depends on whether Southampton would risk losing him on a free transfer and if Pelle wants to move on and go back to Italy.

Does Pelle have a part to play before the end of the season?

Yes

No

Possibly