Johannes Spor, Southampton’s Group Technical Director, has had a lot of major work put in front of him since being appointed in February.
In his first few months, the decision to sack Ivan Juric was made, which led to the search for his successor, who was confirmed on Sunday as being former RC Lens boss Will Still. He also needed to get the club ready for a pretty hectic summer, with many incomings and outgoings on the playing front expected.
Dragan Solak, the owner of Southampton, is hoping to generate £100 million from the sales of top assets like Tyler Dibling, Taylor Harwood-Bellis and Aaron Ramsdale. Portuguese midfielder Mateus Fernandes is also a contender to leave after a strong first season in the country. Crystal Palace, Leeds United and Nottingham Forest have been linked with him.
Southampton agree first summer signing from the Bundesliga
All of this potential revenue will have to be put back into the club to give Still a good chance at getting Southampton promoted from the Championship, and so they have already begun making moves, with a deal for German defender Quarshie lined up.
Fabrizio Romano has reported that the Saints have agreed a deal to sign the 20-year-old from Bundesliga outfit Hoffenheim this summer for a fee of €3.5 million (~ £3 million). The transfer window doesn’t officially open until 1st June, though, before closing again on 10th June. It will then re-open six days later and will remain open until it shuts on the first day of September.
It had been reported by Alfie House that Spor, a German himself, had been using his knowledge and contacts in the region to good effect, with the hope of a deal being agreed with a party from his homeland.
The technical director had previously emphasised his belief that players need to have impressive physical capabilities. Six-foot-five Quarshie, who played 20 times for SpVgg Greuther Furth in the Bundesliga 2 while on loan from his parent club, clocked the highest top speed in the division last season (37.04 km/h).
| Joshua Quarshie’s 24/25 Bundesliga 2 stats | |
|---|---|
| Appearances | 20 |
| Starts | 16 |
| Minutes per game | 71 |
| Goals | 0 |
| Clean sheets | 1 |
| Tackles & interceptions per game | 1.2 |
| Duels won per game | 2.2 (58%) |
| Source: Sofascore | |
As per the Daily Echo, he is expected to be a first-team player for Still and will join his new teammates when they reconvene for pre-season training at the end of next month.
Southampton need defensive reinforcements this summer
Quarshie should be a solid start to the Saints’ summer plans, one to build on top of because they certainly need more reinforcements in this area of the pitch. There’s a good chance that 60 per cent of Southampton’s back-line (Harwood-Bellis, Ramsdale and Kyle Walker-Peters) will leave this summer – Walker-Peters is set to become a free agent.
That’ll be a big blow to them. Bringing stability back to their defensive unit will be key to any form of promotion push next season.
