Ronnie Edwards gives brutally honest reason for leaving Southampton | OneFootball

Ronnie Edwards has officially joined QPR on loan until the end of the season. He gave his brutally honest reason for leaving Southampton.

Southampton signed Ronnie Edwards from Peterborough in the 2024 summer transfer window. However, his start to life at St Marys Stadium hasn't gone to plan, since he's struggled to pick up game time under both Russell Martin and Ivan Juric.

In fact, Edwards has only played a measly 12 minutes of Premier League action since joining the Saints. This came in the 5-1 hammering by Chelsea, when the game was already dead and buried.

Edwards did also start in the EFL Cup fixture against Cardiff City, playing close to the full match before being hooked off in the 86th minute. So, in total, Edwards has only played 98 minutes of competitive football this season. Not good enough.

Ronnie Edwards gives brutally honest reason for leaving Southampton

Speaking to the official QPR website, Ronnie Edwards highlighted the lack of playing time at Southampton as the reason for choosing his loan departure. He also said he didn't need to wait until deadline day, assumedly since he had his mind set on leaving the Saints.

In his own words, Edwards said: "You can obviously wait until deadline day but as soon as I heard of this, I thought why not get started straight away? I was used to playing regularly in the past and I have missed that. Hopefully I can get that here."

It might feel hard to hear for Southampton fans but who can blame Ronnie Edwards? At the end of the day, he's a young lad who wants to be playing football. Getting minutes on the board is key for his development and Southampton clearly cannot promise this.

Edwards then went onto speak about playing in the Championship. It is a league he's played in before, in the 2021/22 season when his former side Peterborough were relegated.

Edwards added: "I know about the division. It's exciting, it is another challenge, and I am ready to get going."

Southampton fans should hope that Edwards is excited about playing in the Championship. Unfortunately for the youngster, he's unlikely to return from his loan spell with the prospect of playing Premier League football - After all, Southampton seem a dead cert to be relegated this campaign.

We wish Ronnie Edwards nothing but the best on his loan spell. He will surely go out there and smash it.