Southampton FC may face new Ben Brereton Diaz headache – St Mary’s exit could come very late now | OneFootball

Southampton selling both Tyler Dibling and Mateus Fernandes could cause Ben Brereton Diaz' possible departure to be delayed at St Mary's.

Southampton are set for an extremely busy end to the summer transfer window, and with a lot of things now still up in the air, it seems as though Ben Brereton Diaz’ future won’t be decided until right at the very last moment.

Will Still arrived at St Mary’s this summer after beginning his managerial career with Stade de Reims and Lens in Ligue 1, and the English-Belgian coach has been tasked with getting Southampton to immediately bounce back from their humiliating relegation from the Premier League last season.

Saints began with a dramatic and late come from behind 2-1 defeat of Wrexham down on the south coast on the opening day of the season before then they came from a goal down to share a 1-1 draw with fellow just-relegated Ipswich Town at Portman Road, sandwiching a 1-0 defeat of Northampton Town at Sixfields in the first round of the EFL Cup.

Southampton have had a slow transfer window in terms of incomings, with plenty of outgoings, but still a lot yet to be decided and that yet-to-be-decided factor means that Ben Brereton Diaz, clearly not a part of Still’s plans, is still at the club.

Ben Brereton Diaz may have to wait for his Southampton exit

Former Blackburn Rovers and Nottingham Forest forward Ben Brereton Diaz, who has famously been capped 35 times by Chile, joined Southampton from Villarreal last summer, upon their promotion back to the Premier League.

He made just ten appearances in the top-flight for Saints before returning for a second loan spell at Sheffield United, where he had been in the second-half of the previous campaign, too.

Brereton Diaz has returned to Saints this summer but the 26-year-old attacker doesn’t seem to be near Will Still’s first-choice eleven. He may, however, have to wait for his move.

The Stoke-born Chilean international played 81 minutes in that clash with Northampton in the cup, but he has been left as an unused substitute in their two Championship matches so far this season.

However, with Crystal Palace reportedly interested in signing both Mateus Fernandes and Tyler Dibling; Saints’ focus for sales will be on those two, having previously rejected bids from West Ham United and Everton.

If Southampton do eventually sanction departures for those two in the coming days, then the likelihood is that Still and Saints will desperately need to get bodies in before they can let anyone else leave – and that will prevent Brereton Diaz from forcing through a prompt departure, be it permanently or on loan once again, from the south coast.

Changes to the Southampton squad this summer

Like most teams that have suffered relegation from the top-flight, Southampton have had to make lots of changes to their squad with several experienced first-team players leaving the club.

Samuel Amo-Ameyaw has been sold to Strasbourg, with Paul Onuachu, Kamaldeen Sulemana and Jan Bednarek completing permanent moves to Trabzonspor, Atalanta and Porto, respectively.

Kyle Walker-Peters has also left the club for West Ham United on a free transfer, with Aaron Ramsdale joining Newcastle United on a season-long loan deal.

In the attack, it had previously been suggested by Alfie House on BBC Radio Solent that Adam Armstrong was going to be allowed to leave the club, whilst Joe Aribo and Samuel Edozie have been left out of squads due to ongoing transfer negotiations.

Youngster Jay Robinson has been called into the first-team squad, and he has impressed, but depth is beginning to become a necessity.

Southampton have only, so far, been able to bring in Joshua Quarshie and Damion Downs from Bundesliga clubs Hoffenheim and Cologne, and their squad did require trimming, but there will be a need for Saints to bring in extra bodies after the probable sales of Fernandes and Dibling, before allowing Brereton Diaz to also depart.