Southampton’s transfer policy has come into question following the sale of Dusan Tadic in the summer, a player who manager Mark Hughes seems to be desperately missing.
Scoring seven times and notching four assists so far in the Eredivisie with Ajax the former Saints player has been in top form following his move away from the south coast.
A £10 million deal saw one of Hughes’s most consistent players depart Southampton in a time of inconsistency at St.Mary’s. While Ings and Austin have helped fill the void of one of the last of Southampton’s Europa league stars the inclusion of the Serbian will have aided the Saint’s goalscoring woes.
Playing over 132 times in the Premier League the then 25-year-old was the epitome of the Saint’s then shrewd transfer policy upon arriving in England; as Southampton bought Tadic following a 16 goal and 14 assist making season with Dutch club Twente.
Scoring 20 goals across 4 seasons – with his highest goal tally being 7 and lowest at 3 – Tadic managed to consistently score vital goals in a side that lacked an out and out goalscorer. Not to mention the 5ft 11 dynamo managed to provide 27 assists in his 4 years making him one of the league’s most creative players by far.
His departure – while overlooked by much of the Premier League and Southampton fans for that matter – is certainly a huge blow for the south coast side with no real creative outlet at their disposal in the wake of his exit.
Many believed it was manager Hughes that decided to let the winger go in the summer, yet the former Chelsea and Bayern Munich star spoke very highly of Tadic in April 2018, speaking to The Telegraph:
He’s made a big difference,
When the new coach and his assistants came, we did great in the training sessions, we touched the ball more and we felt immediately sharper. He has a lot of experience and he sees everything. I think he needs to stay in Southampton because he is a fantastic coach. It would be great for Southampton if he stayed.
Despite a reported fallout between manager and player, Tadic said:
I did good in the Premier League. In four years, I was for three [of them] in the top five best assisters in the Premier League and probably in the top ten of creating chances. I’m very proud because Southampton is not the biggest club in the Premier League and the Premier League is the toughest league in the world.
I showed I can play there at high level. I had beautiful years with Southampton – great club, great people, great supporters – and I’m very proud of my four years.
Whether he can keep his form up in the Netherlands is yet to be seen. But it is certain that Southampton certainly miss their sublime Serb and will continue to miss him this season.
