Southampton: Sofiane Boufal an improved Sadio Mane

Southampton have confirmed the signing of Sofiane Boufal, which will make the departure of Sadio Mane a distant memory. Boufal is Mane 2.0.

Every summer, you can expect massive departures from Southampton and this summer was no different. They lost long-time midfield anchor Victor Wanyama as well as their offensive lynch-pin Sadio Mane.

Mane has had a decent start to his career at Liverpool although he is still showing some of the drawbacks that frustrated fans at St. Mary’s. He’s just a bit sloppy at times.

Still, it was a massive loss, but for the price Liverpool paid, Southampton couldn’t feel that much remorse. He may only be 24, but Mane was not worth £30m, at least not from what we’ve seen. It was a great piece of business by the Saints and a piece of business that opened up the move for Sadio Mane 2.0, Sofiane Boufal.

Boufal is coming over from Lille, a team that he served the same role for as Mane did for Southampton. Somewhat perfectly, the two managed almost identical stats across the English Channel. Mane contributed 11 goals and six assists in 2600 minutes for Southampton last year while Boufal contributed 11 goals and four assists in 2300 minutes at Lille. That makes their goal contributions at every 152 and 153 minutes, respectively.

If that isn’t like for like enough, consider their skillsets. Both are wizards on the ball (though Boufal completed nearly twice as many dribbles per appearance as Mane) and possess tremendous pace and agility.

However, there is one thing Boufal brings that Mane simply doesn’t – unselfishness. Boufal may have registered less assists, but he was not working with a Europa League quality attack. He created 2.5 chances per game as he continues to show that his game emphasizes opening up channels for his team mates over personal glory. In both years at Lille, he has created more chances per appearance than shots taken.

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Mane is different. He created just 1.1 chances for Southampton per appearance last year while he took 2.5 shots per match.

For a team like Southampton, where superstars aren’t realistic targets and team play and chemistry has gotten them where they are, it is crucial to have that creator over a loose cannon. Boufal is a creator.

It remains to be seen where Boufal will fit into the Saints’ starting XI. He can play literally any attacking role, but in the 4-1-2-1-2 that the Saints have utilized this year, there really aren’t any wings for Boufal to fit into. He would have to either replace Shane Long or Nathan Redmond up front or slot into the No. 10 role.

Given Southampton’s winless start to the season, we could see a reversion to Ronald Koeman’s old 4-2-3-1 with Boufal taking the wing that Mane abandoned. Redmond could take the other and then either Long or Charlie Austin can start up front.

That in and of itself is a powerful attack.

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Boufal broke a club record for transfer fee at £16m. It’s just over half what Mane was sold for. This will turn out to be a brilliant signing. Now they just have to hold onto him.

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