Southampton rejected chance to send young players on loan

Saints manager Ronald Koeman has confirmed that Southampton rejected chances to send some of the club’s academy players out on loan deals.

With the emergency loan window for Football League clubs closing yesterday, Koeman was asked if any deals would be done before the deadline. However, Koeman replied that the club were unwilling to send any more players away due to squad depth.

Players such as Jake Hesketh, Ryan Seager, Harrison Reed and Matt Targett could all probably have done with going out on-loan to the Football League to gain valuable first team experience.

Instead, they have seemingly been made to stay at the club in the reserves and forced to wait for their chance in the Premier League, which is unlikely. With Forster, Rodriguez and Gardos injured, you can see the Saints squad thinning and Koeman is clearly acting in the best interests in the squad.

Speaking about loaning young players out, Koeman said this:

We had some enquiries for our younger players but we cannot take that risk as our squad is not that big.