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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…
Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl has been left in a very awkward situation following a reported bust-up with striker Charlie Austin.
What’s the word, then?
Well, the Austrian has made no secret of the fact that he would be happy to sell the centre-forward if the price was right, even saying it both during the January transfer window and then again later on during the 2018/19 season.
It appeared as though the 30-year-old could be edging closer to a St Mary’s exit after he was omitted from the 26-man squad that travelled to Austria for a pre-season trip last week, but The Sunday Mirror, via HITC, say he turned down a move to West Bromwich Albion.
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A further report from The Sun now says the former Queens Park Rangers man called Hasenhuttl “disrespectful” for leaving him behind in England, and that he wants to stay and fight for his spot in the team with just a year remaining on his contract.
Austin was signed for what was a bargain £4m fee in January 2016, but he has scored just 20 goals in 81 appearances in all competitions since then, including two in 25 Premier League outings last term.
Southampton’s new man Moussa Djenepo divides opinion amongst fans in the video below…
Awkward situation
It has left the former RB Leipzig boss with a bit of a problem.
He clearly wants Austin to go – not only for the fact that he appears to be sixth-choice striker right now with Danny Ings, Che Adams, Shane Long, Michael Obafemi and Dan N’Lundulu all going to Austria ahead of him, but probably also to remove his wages – but the striker isn’t keen as he knows he will be entitled to a potentially lucrative signing-on fee next summer, according to The Sunday Mirror, via Tribal Football.
The Daily Echo reports that both he and Mario Lemina are training separately from the rest of the squad at Staplewood, with Saints preferring a permanent exit for Austin if he is to go.
With just over three weeks until the transfer window slams shut this is a real sticking point, and it has left Hasenhuttl in an unneeded awkward position ahead of the 2019/20 campaign.
Southampton may be better off simply paying up his contract should an exit fail to materialise, in order to get a player that could prove to be a distraction off of the books for good.