Southampton: Three hopes, one fear

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SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND – AUGUST 13: Manager of Southampton, Claude Puel (R) and manager of Watford, Walter Mazzarri (L) look on during the Premier League match between Southampton and Watford at St Mary’s Stadium on August 13, 2016 in Southampton, England. (Photo by Tom Dulat/Getty Images) /

If Southampton Football Club were a grocery store they would be a Sam’s Club.

Every offseason it seems as if Southampton are the most popular destination to buy in book. The club consistently puts out the best product in terms young players and diamonds in the rough and is consistently picked over by other clubs. It is both a sign of the quality of players that come out of the club and how the power structure works within world football.

The big question is: can the club find sustained success? The indication seems to be yes. Despite having lost another stream of players from the previous season (Graziano Pelle to Shandon Luneng, Sadio Mane to Liverpool, and Victor Wanyama to Tottenham) Southampton enter the 2016-2017 campaign with the hope that their veteran core can pick up the slack.

The additions of Nathaniel Redmond from Norwich City and Pierre Emile Hojbjerg from Bayern Munich should give the club enough firepower and strength in the defense to stay in the top ten. The fear is though that they don’t quite have enough to crack the top five and that a prolonged stay in the Europa League without any silverware might lead to a bit of a drop.

So with that in mind let’s take a look at the three hopes and one fear of Southampton Football Club.

Next: That Jay Rodriguez will play a full season.

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