Southampton player set for permanent transfer exit in £3 million deal | OneFootball

After an unbeaten first four league matches of the season, Southampton were brought back down to earth this past weekend with a huge thud when they were hammered 5-0 away at Sunderland.

It was a miserable time on Wearside for Russell Martin's side who were outclassed by the Black Cats - that is despite having the lions share of possession.

That was a first league defeat of the season for the Saints, but they are still learning under new head coach Martin and on transfer deadline day they significantly bolstered their squad with the signings of Ross Stewart and Taylor Harwood-Bellis.

There has been somewhat of a big rebuild by the hierarchy at St Mary's Stadium, with some star assets cashed in on and even younger players such as Nathan Tella have been allowed to explore a new opportunity.

And whilst the transfer window may be closed for EFL clubs in terms of incoming business, minus free agents of course, there are other markets across Europe and the world that are still open to do business.

That gives some Championship clubs a last chance to cash in on players that perhaps aren't in a managers plans, and the Saints are set to profit from that extra time by selling Moussa Djenepo.

The Mali winger is on the verge of re-joining Belgian outfit Standard Liege, according to reporter Sacha Tavolieri, with their window only closing on this coming Wednesday.

Per Tavolieri, Standard Liege are set to pay a fee of €3.5 million (£3 million) to take the 25-year-old, which is a significant loss for the Saints considering they paid the best part of £14 million just over four years ago to bring Djenepo in from Standard.

How has Moussa Djenepo fared for Southampton?

Despite having some flashy moments for the Saints, Djenepo has never really had a sustained run in the first-team for the club since his arrival in 2019.

The Malian suffered from a few niggling injuries in his debut season on the south coast and in 2020-21 he was often utilised off the bench in the Premier League.

It was a similar frustrating story for Djenepo in 2021-22 as he played just 12 times in the top flight of English football and he featured in just 23 matches in 2022-23 in all competitions last year.

Djenepo's one and only appearance under Russell Martin came in the 3-1 EFL Cup humilation against Gillingham of League Two, and despite being on the bench for three Championship fixtures he was not used by the ex-Scotland international.

Is Southampton's sale of Moussa Djenepo a good deal?

Considering Djenepo didn't appear to be in Martin's plans then it's a decent deal for Southampton - despite the significant financial loss.

Djenepo never really got going at the club and the fact that even 17-year-old Sam Amo-Ameyaw got chances over him was a sign that he was probably on the way out.

Martin has options at his disposal out wide even with the loss of Nathan Tella, with Sam Edozie, Ryan Fraser, Amo-Ameyaw and even Adam Armstrong potentially being a strong option cutting in from the left, so the expected exit of Djenepo will probably not be felt.

For Standard Liege to get a player back for £11 million less than they sold him for four years ago is good business on their part though and perhaps Djenepo can regain his spark in Belgium.