Southampton could have a future defensive star in Dynel Simeu | OneFootball

With four draws and three defeats in their opening seven Premier League games of the season, it’s safe to say that Southampton have not had the best of starts, especially with Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side also conceding 10 goals in that time.

In addition to this poor start to the season, the Saints were also struck with some bad news after Jack Stephens picked up a serious knee injury during the 0-0 draw against Manchester City which will see him ruled out of action for 12 weeks.

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Taking all of this into account, along with the sale of Jannik Vestergaard to Premier League rivals Leicester City during the recent summer transfer window, it’s looking pretty bleak for the club from a defensive point of view.

However, we feel that the club have a good defensive option to call on for the time being or at some point in the future with 19-year-old centre-back Dynel Simeu.

Southampton signed the teenager back in July on a three-year contract from fellow Premier League club Chelsea.

Since then, Simeu – who was once described as a “monster” by journalist Neil Moxley during his time with the west Londoners’ youth team – has played 90 minutes in all of Southampton under-23s’ matches across all competitions, showing how important he has been for them in his short time there, even though they haven’t managed to win any of those games.

In the two appearances Simeu has made so far this season in the EFL Trophy, the defender – who is currently valued at £900k by Transfermarkt – has averaged two interceptions, 3.5 tackles and an impressive seven clearances per game, showing that he has plenty of defensive ability in him at such a young age.

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In comparison with Vestergaard, the 29-year-old Dane racked up a not too dissimilar average of 1.4 interceptions, 1.7 tackles and four clearances per game throughout Southampton’s 2020/21 Premier League campaign.

Moving forward, if Simeu can continue playing regularly and improving for Southampton’s under-23 side, we see no reason why he couldn’t go on become a regular first team player for the Saints as an ideal long-term replacement for Vestergaard if given the chance.