A major update has emerged on £75k-p/w dud which could lead to Southampton missing out on a deal for a Premier League midfielder.

What's the talk?

According to Hampshire Live, Liverpool are not prepared to sanction another loan move for Takumi Minamino amid interest from Southampton. The report claims that Liverpool are planning to keep Minamino around their first-team squad next season and would only be tempted into letting go if an attractive permanent offer came in for his services.

Southampton are said to have enquired about a potential deal for the Japan international, having had him on loan during the second half of the 2020/21 campaign. A number of Bundesliga and Premier League clubs are reportedly looking at Minamino alongside Southampton, but he will not be joining any of them on loan.

In 2020, Jurgen Klopp labelled Minamino as “super professional” after his goal against Arsenal in the Community Shield. He told Liverpool's official website:

“So, yes, he can be a real player for us – that was always clear. He came in in the most difficult period of all our lives, I would say, and had to adapt to different things, being alone in England in the lockdown and all that stuff. That’s all not something that’s nice. But he dealt really well with it because he’s a super professional.

“So I’m really pleased for him that he could score the goal today and that’s another big step for him.”

Fans will be delighted

Southampton fans should be delighted that Minamino will not be returning to St. Mary's on loan.

Minamino failed to make the most of his loan spell at the club as he struggled to build on a strong start to life on the south coast. The Japanese attacker scored twice in his first three games for Ralph Hasenhuttl's side before going seven games without a direct goal contribution to see out his time at the club. Therefore, Saints fans could be buzzing that he will not be coming back.

Minamino's overall performances did not make up for his lack of goal contributions.

He averaged a dismal WhoScored rating of 6.42 in his 10 Premier League appearances for Southampton. This is not an outlier during his time in England, either, as he averaged scores of 6.18 and 6.42 in the 2019/20 and 2020/21 Premier League campaigns respectively for Liverpool. This suggests that he is not up to the standard of top-flight football in England, at least at this point in his career.

The £75k-per-week dud has not been able to adapt to the Premier League in his 18 months since joining Liverpool from RB Salzburg.

Southampton should reserve their interest in him until a point in which he is showing that he can consistently put in decent performances in England, or else bringing him back to the club could be a disaster. For now, at least, Minamino not joining Southampton on loan again should be music to the fans' ears.

AND in other news, Saints dealt transfer blow on £5.5k-p/w beast who “has everything”, fans will be gutted...