Mane oh Mane as Southampton set to lose second player in a week

The great Summer exodus Southampton is back for a third year in a row as Sadio Mane looks set to follow Victor Wanayama out of the exit door at St Mary’s. The Sengalese international is very close to a move to Liverpool after the two clubs have agreed a £34m fee.

Now if you ask me and as it’s my blog, I’ll give my opinion. That is a quite absurd piece of business – just stop and think about that £34million pounds for Sadio Mane. I think he is far too streaky a player to be commanding a fee of that size

I think Mane is a talented player but I think he is too inconsistent. Perfect example being that hat-trick against his prospective new club last season. On his day he can look almost world class but those days are just few and far between. If someone offered me £34m for Mane, I would be running straight to the bank to cash that cheque in.

Southampton have played somewhat of a master stoke in getting that much for Mane but it obviously comes with a caveat. That is now £45m they have raised in the past week but it also means another two of their best players have left the club, a club that at present doesn’t have a manager

I’m sure they will have managerial targets lined up but for Southampton fans they must be thinking ‘here we go again’ as another top player not only leaves but departs for Liverpool….again. Has anyone told Liverpool that they don’t have to just buy players from Southampton.

If it’s Mane this week then it was Victor Wanayama last week. He has signed for Tottenham for an £11m fee. This move is in slightly different circumstances as Southampton ran the risk of him moving for free at the end of next season, so once again player power had more of a say in regards to a deal taking place.

For Tottenham’s that is a great bit of business. Signing him for less than what Southampton paid for him and also in my opinion it is exactly what they need in terms of Summer signings. That’s not to say we don’t need a backup striker but I think the slight softness in the centre of the park is what cost us more last season

Yes with Wanayama you run the risk of your red card count going through the roof but he also does give you some real bite in Midfield. Something that Spurs lacked, not necessarily in the starting eleven but if and when changes needed to be made.

When Eric Dier and Mousa Dembele weren’t playing then the reliance on Ryan Mason and Tom Carroll was too much at times and you could see the obvious drop if in quality. Add the fact that Dembele misses the start of the season through suspension and Wanayama will be needed even more.

The signing of Wanayama from Southampton will probably spell the end of a Tottenham career for one of either Mason or Carroll as we are now well stocked in that department, but I think Mason would do a good job for a bottom half Premier League side while Carroll may have to get used to a career in the Championship

As for Southampton the task again is once again rejuvinating over the Summer. They’ve done it twice but could they struggle to do it a third time. Also with having money clubs know that you are needing to spend it and that in itself can hike up a transfer fee

The fact that they are in the Europa League will be an attractive proposition but that is probably offset by the fact they aren’t perceived to have too much ambition as they can keep having to deal with a talent drain every 12 months.

We’ve said it over the past two years that it’s going to be a big Summer for Southampton but you get the feeling this could be their biggest yet. Whoever comes in has their work cut out and if they can get a third consecutive Europa League then that man would have worked a miracle.