A lot of Southampton supporters were concerned when Victor Wanyama left the club to join Tottenham Hotspur in the summer.

For three seasons, the Kenyan had been a part of the shield in front of the backline helping his team become one of the best defensive outfits in the Premier League, and it left a hole that needed to be filled.

Even though he had signed for Saints in the summer of 2015 from Chelsea, it was Oriol Romeu – who cost around £5m – that would be asked to step up to the plate a year later.

Whereas Wanyama often had a partner alongside him in Ronald Koeman’s preferred 4-2-3-1 formation, new Southampton boss Claude Puel has so far opted for more of a diamond set-up, which means that Romeu has been charged with protecting the defence on his own.

However, it is a role that he has excelled in and the Spaniard is arguably the club’s player of the season so far this term, and Saints fans appear to have forgotten about ‘Big Vic’ already.

Here are three reasons why Romeu has proven to be an upgrade on Wanyama...

DISTRIBUTION

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Whereas Wanyama was brilliant at using his strength to win the ball back, he then struggled when it came to moving the ball on to a teammate – often misplacing his next pass.

However, Romeu was part of Barcelona’s academy when he was younger - and it shows. When the Spaniard does win the ball back, he moves it on quickly and his passing accuracy of 89% this season is certainly an impressive stat to back that up.

DISCIPLINE

Football Soccer - Norwich City v Southampton - Barclays Premier League - Carrow Road - 2/1/16 Southampton's Victor Wanyama is shown a second yellow and then a red card by referee Mark Clattenburg after fouling Norwich's Vadis Odjidja Ofoe (not pictured) Mandatory Credit: Action Images / Tony O'Brien Livepic EDITORIAL USE ONLY. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or "live" services. Online in-match use limited to 45 images, no video emulation. N

Even though he accrued seven yellow cards in 29 Premier League appearances last season, Romeu has been more disciplined on his own in front of the back four this season.

In 10 top flight matches this term, he has picked up two bookings.

While not perfect, it is an improvement on Wanyama, who was red-carded on three occasions in his final year at St Mary’s - which meant he missed large chunks of the campaign through suspension.

READING OF THE GAME

Britain Soccer Football - Leicester City v Southampton - Premier League - King Power Stadium - 2/10/16 Leicester City's Jamie Vardy in action with Southampton's Oriol Romeu and Fraser Forster Action Images via Reuters / Andrew Boyers Livepic EDITORIAL USE ONLY.

When Wanyama went up against a player in a 50/50 battle, there weren’t many occasions when he didn’t come out on top because of his strength.

However, it was often his lack of concentration and awareness that got him into those situations, and it is something that Romeu is certainly better at based on his showings this season.

The 25-year-old sees the danger and acts on it quickly, which was evident against Leicester when he blocked three Jamie Vardy efforts to prevent a goal.