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This article is part of Football FanCast's The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Amid rumours of his exit from the club, Southampton must hold on to Sofiane Boufal as he could prove useful for a number of reasons.

No one like him in the squad

Boufal registered 4.1 dribbles per game in La Liga last term, which was by far and away more than anyone else in Ralph Hasenhuttl's squad managed to complete whilst playing in the Premier League.

The next best dribbler from Southampton's squad was Nathan Redmond with 2.4 dribbles completed per game last term, whilst £15m summer signing Moussa Djenepo also likes a dribble having completed 3.3 per game at the Africa Cup of Nations - both Redmond and Djenepo's figures are not quite at the same level as Boufal, however.

The Algeria international would definitely hand Hasenhuttl another ace in his pack with his take-on ability - the former Lille man recorded more take-ons than a certain Lionel Messi whilst on loan in La Liga last term.

Would be perfect if move away from 3-5-2 does happen 

We recently wrote about how Hasenhuttl should drop his 3-5-2 system and remove Jannik Vestergaard from the starting XI.

If this did happen, the possibility of a 4-4-2 formation or a 4-5-1 system would become more realistic, and with that would come the option of an out-and-out winger on the flank.

In this specific scenario, Boufal would be the ideal man to come in, be reintegrated to the squad and cause problems out wide, which would also serve to help the Southampton forwards who have struggled so far this season - the Saints have scored just one goal collectively, and even that was as a result of Liverpool keeper Adrian kicking the ball at Danny Ings.

There has been talk of a move to Nice for Boufal before the window closes for European clubs on September 2, but Southampton should ignore any talk of a move away and make use of the 25-year-old's talents.

The attacker himself has even tweeted that he is focused on his career at St Mary's, so this could well be a transition that we see Hasenhuttl make if the forward does stay put.

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