Southampton player left in transfer limbo as €6m deal with European outfit in jeopardy | OneFootball

Yukinari Sugawara is currently on loan at Werder Bremen from the Championship side

Werder Bremen are currently unsure whether they will activate the option-to-buy clause in the deal which took Southampton FC defender, Yukinari Sugawara to the Weserstadion on an initial loan basis in the summer transfer window.

That is according to German sports news outlet, Bild, which outlines the Bundesliga side's current stance on the Japanese international right-back, who was one of many high-profile departures from St Mary's following the Saints' second relegation from the Premier League to the Championship within a three-season period.

Southampton are currently gearing up for a maiden transfer window under the management of Tonda Eckert, with the 32-year-old installed as the club's fourth permanent boss in 12 months after overseeing a drastic short-term transformation in terms of both results and performance levels in comparison to those throughout Will Still's extremely short-lived tenure on the South Coast.

The former Genoa and Barnsley assistant enjoyed the club's best managerial start since the end of World War Two throughout a five-game spell as interim boss, before making it six wins out of a possible seven games after being handed a contract until the summer of 2027 with successive home victories over Birmingham City and West Bromwich Albion.

Sugawara was a regular presence in Saints' relegation campaign under the management of Russell Martin, Ivan Juric and Simon Rusk, making 35 appearances across all competitions after the club agreed a £6m fee with Eredivisie side, AZ Alkmaar, signing a four-year contract at St Mary's in the process before scoring once and also posting a solitary assist.

However, his latest spell on mainland Europe has certainly been mixed to say the least, whilst his temporary employers currently find themselves 11th in the Bundesliga table, with two games left until the division's lengthy winter break and the opening of the January transfer window.

Sugawara was one of seven additions made to Werder Bremen's squad throughout the summer transfer window, and one of six loan signings made at that.

Indeed, the only permanent transfer made by the North German outfit in the summer saw Samuel Mbangula join from Juventus, whilst the 18-time Japanese international was acquired until the end of the campaign - at present - alongside Victor Boniface, Cameron Puertas, Karl Hein and the Leeds United defensive duo of Max Wober and Isaac Schmidt.

Following Southampton's return to the Championship after accumulating a measly 12 points in the Premier League, it was reported that a €6m option-to-buy clause had been inserted into the loan agreement between them and Werder, whilst claims emerged that Sugawara was informed by his agent that he had to source a move to a European top-five league club as a result.

Sugawara's competitive debut for his loan club came in the second game of the Bundesliga campaign in an entertaining 3-3 draw against Bayer Leverkusen, before posting his first assist for Die Grün-Weißen in a 4-0 rout against Borussia Mönchengladbach two weeks later.

However, he was heavily criticised for a major drop-off in performance levels the following week as Bremen suffered a 3-0 home defeat to SC Freiburg, with the defender revealing to Bild that he had found it hard to initially aclimatise to life in Germany, citing reasons such as being unable to locate an apartment.

Regardless, he has started in all 12 games which followed the confirmation of the aforementioned loan agreement, with the last of those coming in a 3-2 defeat to local rivals, Hamburger SV.

Sporting director, Peter Niemeyer, revealed to the same publication that Werder are "very satisfied" with Sugawara's overall performance despite mixed results. However, it has also been stated that it is unclear whether the €6m option-to-buy will be activated at the end of the campaign due to the German side's current financial situation.

By the end of the season, Sugawara will have two years remaining on the contract he agreed with Saints after they defeated Leeds United in the 2024 Championship play-off final.

Given Niemeyer's aforementioned comments, it is fair to say that Sugawara is set to last the season with the Bundesliga outfit, meaning the aforementioned future transfer predicament will not be a short-term priority for Southampton.

Sporting director, Johannes Spors, has recently placed the club's short-term transfer plans on record, which could significantly impact a shot at the play-offs under Eckert, as they find themselves within touching distance of the top six after a remarkable run with the guidance of the former Under-21s boss.