Southampton talisman Morgan Schneiderlin looks set to be a number one target for many top clubs come the end of season.
The Frenchman has been subject of transfer speculation for well over a year, with suggestions that north London rivals Arsenal and Tottenham will battle it out for his signature. Recently though, there has been that speculation that Spanish giants Barcelona will make a move when their transfer ban is over.
Many people consider Morgan Schneiderlin staying at the club to be Southampton’s best bit of business last summer, after many thought he would follow in the steps of Rickie Lambert and Adam Lallana amongst others out the exit door.
Many Saints fans feared for the worst after the former Strasbourg man tweeted his disgust at being blocked from moving away from the club last summer, which sparked debate over the future of the then 24 year old.
However, following Southampton’s fantastic start to the 2014/15 season, Schneiderlin retracted his desires to leave, revealing he was happy with the direction the club was going.
The French International joined the Saints back in 2008, the season in which saw Southampton relegated to League 1 come May. However, the midfielder remained at the club, and having been a first team regular since he joined at 18, has seen the club move back up the divisions to fight for European qualification. In doing so, Schneiderlin has developed into one of the Premier League’s best defensive midfielders, racking up nearly 250 appearances for the club in the process.
However, it looks increasingly likely that he could join up with fellow countryman Arsene Wenger at Arsenal or with former Southampton manager Mauricio Pochettino at Spurs. Both could very tempting for the midfielder to grow as he enters his peak.
But will he go? Many have suggested that Schneiderlin would be one the key figures at St. Mary’s this season, and despite injury setbacks he has been one of the Saints’ most consistent performers. For this reason Southampton were rumoured to have opened contract talks with the man back in Autumn, but no official news has broke as of yet.
Like many of Southampton’s most loyal players, the temptation of joining one of England’s elite is often too hard to resist, regardless of the performance of the club. I feel the difference between Schneiderlin leaving or not will be European Qualification.
