Southampton’s hopes of selling £19m striker Guido Carrillo in the summer could be at risk following the forward’s poor form this season.
Carrillo is currently on loan to Leganes in La Liga and is struggling to make an impact for the Spanish club.
According to The Telegraph, Southampton want to get rid of Carrillo in the summer, alongside some other deadwood in the squad, in order to trim his wages from the bill.
The forward has scored just one goal in La Liga for Leganes in 19 appearances this season. He has started nine games and come on as a substitute a further 10 times, with his only goal coming against Deportivo Alaves last month.
Carrillo has started just three of Leganes’ last 10 La Liga matches, suggesting that he has fallen down the pecking order and is not the first-choice striker. If this is the case, it could be difficult for Southampton to move Carrillo on permanently in the summer.
Southampton will be hoping that he can pick up his form and start to score goals consistently between now and the end of the season in order to generate interest heading into the summer. If Carrillo ends the campaign with one goal and as Leganes’ second-choice forward, the Saints could struggle to get a decent fee – if any – for him.
This means that Southampton could be left with a tough situation to deal with in the summer. If no club is willing to sign Carrillo permanently, due to his poor form, they could be forced to send him back out on loan or keep him around the first-team and give him minutes in the Premier League. The former could be the wiser choice, though, given how he has struggled in La Liga – suggesting that using him in the Premier League could be a bad idea.
