Oriol Romeu has been a mainstay in the Southampton midfield so far this season.
The Spaniard, who signed a new long-term deal at St Mary’s last month, has started all 10 of the club’s Premier League fixtures. The 29-year-old has played the entirety in eight of those matches, being replaced by Ralph Hasenhuttl in the defeat to Tottenham and draw with Chelsea. [Transfermarkt]
He has made 37 tackles in those appearances – more than any other player in the division, and that statistic was shared by the club on their official Twitter channel.
This is what these Saints fans had to say in response to the fact, with one describing the defensive midfielder as ‘criminally underrated’. Another quipped ‘Enter Klopp’ in what is presumably a reference to Liverpool’s habit of cherry-picking Southampton stars in recent years.
Twitter: @SouthamptonFC @OriolRomeu Is this any surprise to a Saints fan?
We
you Oriol.
(@saintjac)
Twitter: @SouthamptonFC @OriolRomeu He’s always been one of my favourites , plays like I used to
. Love a good tackle and IMO underrated. (@Chrishatch19K)
Twitter: What a boss @OriolRomeu has been this season #SaintsFC https://t.co/iakYBsSfF6 (@chriskidd)
Twitter: Hojberg has romeu posters on his wall, pass it on.. https://t.co/rKR8qZgH3L (@khughsey111)
Twitter: Criminally underrated https://t.co/fo16MtfHp8 (@nylecrocker)
Twitter: Enter Klopp…. https://t.co/mvb1enL5dt (@SomeGeorge2)
Underrated could be a term to describe Romeu’s stint with the club. The midfielder has featured heavily since joining Southampton and his season average hasn’t dipped under 6.5/10. [WhoScored]
According to WhoScored, he has been the club’s fourth-best performer this season with an average match rating of 7.08 – only James Ward-Prowse, Che Adams and Danny Ings have exceeded that figure.
