Southampton made transfer mistake over £70k-a-week star – He needs a St Mary’s escape route | OneFootball

Southampton should have done more to sanction the sale of midfielder Joe Aribo, who has stayed at the club.

Southampton experienced an extremely busy summer transfer window and Saints will be glad they can now focus on the football, but the failure to sanction the sale of Joe Aribo is a questionable decision that they have made.

Over the summer, following their humbling relegation from the Premier League, Southampton appointed former Stade de Reims boss Will Still to guide them back to the Championship.

It has been a mixed start to the season for Still, with Saints firmly in the middle-of-the-table after their opening five matches, the most recent of which saw them share a goalless draw with south coast rivals Portsmouth in the derby at St Mary’s.

Leeway is being given English-Belgian coach Still, though, with the former Lens boss adapting to his first job in England, whilst also having to deal with a huge churn of players at Saints over the summer.

Whilst the amount of incomings and outgoings, especially so late in the window, may be widely viewed as unhelpful, there is perhaps one other deal that never came to fruition that will leave him frustrated with regards to Aribo.

Southampton have made a mistake by keeping Joe Aribo

Back in the summer of 2022, Southampton purchased Camberwell-born Nigeria international midfielder Joe Aribo from Rangers, and he put in some excellent performances in the Premier League despite their relegation.

He has remained a key man for Saints over the last couple of seasons and has gone on to now make just over 100 appearances for the club across all competitions.

However, it has become clear he has wanted to move away from the south coast this summer, with it reported earlier this season that he was left out of the squad on the opening day due to transfer negotiations.

Aribo has remained past the deadline, though, despite reported interest from Turkish Super Lig side Besiktas, who have now missed out on any UEFA competition qualification and subsequently sacked manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, which could have impacted their interest in Aribo.

That means Aribo remains at the club and, from a financial perspective, that is a bit of an issue for the club, whilst, on a sporting level, it also makes little sense for him to be there.

Joe Aribo should have left for his and Southampton’s sake

According to Capology, the 29-year-old midfielder reportedly earns £70,000 per week and that astronomical wage marks him out as one of the highest earners in the EFL.

Any value that Southampton could have extracted from him would have had to have come this summer, too, with the former Charlton Athletic man at the end of his four-year contract next summer.

It means that if he was to depart in the January transfer window then any fee that Southampton get back for him would be nominal, whilst still having to shell out massive wages in the meantime.

From a sporting perspective, Aribo’s lack of tactical discipline has always been an issue, having never really nailed down whether he is a box-to-box or an attacking midfielder.

The latter is still the more suited position for him, but Saints have now brought in both Finn Azaz and Leo Scienza, from Middlesbrough and Heidenheim respectively, to be their creative spark in the final third.

Aribo now finds himself out of the side on sporting merit, let alone the financial repercussions, and that is not a good position for either the club or the player.

Nigeria are set to miss out on automatic qualification for the 2026 FIFA World Cup but could still find their way into the intercontinental players but the 34-cap international is now surely even giving up on that dream, too.

It was a mistake for Saints to not sanction any sort of move for Aribo this summer, and it is a decision that has consequences for both parties.