According to TEAMtalk, Southampton are showing an interest in signing Middlesbrough star Lewis Wing, while Brighton and Bournemouth are also eyeing up the midfielder.
Wing has impressed for Boro this season with six goals from midfield, and was once labelled as the “non-league Messi” after one strike he netted for the Railwaymen, as revealed in an exclusive interview with the player.
However, he wouldn’t be worth signing for Southampton.
Why not?
While the Middlesbrough No.26 is undoubtedly having a decent campaign with one assist and two WhoScored Man of the Match awards to go alongside his six goals, it doesn’t feel as if he’d improve the Saints, nor would he be a player who could develop and be one for the future.
Why do we say that? Well, if Wing was 21 years of age, for example, then we could argue that he would be worth investing in as he could develop while playing second fiddle to Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and James Ward-Prowse.
However, the Englishman is 24 years of age, which is the same as Hojbjerg and just one year younger than Ward-Prowse – given the fact that the Southampton pair are experienced Premier League players, it feels like it would be a thankless task to bring Wing to St Mary’s.
Southampton could do better
We must concede that that centre-midfield positions are in need of strengthening at St Mary’s, although Wing doesn’t seem like an option worth pursuing.
Ralph Hasenhuttl has only Oriol Romeu as a senior option to compete with Hojbjerg and Ward-Prowse, so in that respect, another central midfield option wouldn’t go amiss.
However, seeing as Wing is currently midway through only his second season as a Championship player at 24 years of age, it does feel as if there are better, more experienced options out there for the Saints to target.
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There are no guarantees that the Boro star can make the step up, and with Hojbjerg of interest to Tottenham, a player of comparable quality to the Dane should probably be targeted instead rather than a not-so-young Championship star.
In other news, these Southampton fans have reacted to these comments from a washed-up “donkey”…
