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This article is part of Football FanCast’s In The Pipeline series, which takes a look at some of the most promising young talent either linked with clubs or emerging from their academies…
When Matt Targett left Southampton in the summer, the Saints supporters would’ve been forgiven for thinking the squad looked a little light in the left-back department.
As a result of Targett’s £17m move to Aston Villa, Ryan Bertrand was left as the only senior figure on the left side of defence, but it has become apparent that Ralph Hasenhuttl has somewhat of an issue with him.
Summer signing Kevin Danso started the Saints’ outing against Brighton at left-back with Bertrand out injured, although Hasenhuttl later confirmed that he would’ve made that change anyway even if the former Chelsea man was fit.
And then the summer recruit was selected at full-back once again at home to Manchester United, but his afternoon was cut short when he was given his marching orders for two bookable offences.
However, Danso is a natural centre-back, whilst Hasenhuttl also played Pierre-Emile Højbjerg at left-back in the EFL Cup win over Fulham, and praised the Dane for his performance in the role.
In that respect, it seems as if the Austrian boss has some options to replace Bertrand at left-back for now.
However, neither of them are natural figures for the role, but when it eventually comes down to finding a replacement for Bertrand, Southampton could have a potential future challenger for the position in Jake Vokins.
The 19-year-old has been impressing in the Southampton academy for a while now and grabbed two assists from left-back in the recent Under-23 outing against Liverpool, a game which the Merseysiders won 4-3.
The Guardian highlighted Vokins as a player who could soon make the step up at Southampton, whilst the club themselves are seemingly keen to keep him around and develop him having handed the full-back a contract extension just last year.
With Targett no longer on the South Coast and Bertrand seemingly not in Hasenhuttl’s good books, Vokins could potentially be a future challenger for the role if he keeps up the good work.
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