News

Southampton: Dan Sheldon discusses Bertrand’s contract

|
Image for Southampton: Dan Sheldon discusses Bertrand’s contract

The Athletic’s Southampton journalist Dan Sheldon has recently been discussing about the contractual situation of Ryan Bertrand.

Sheldon appeared as a guest on the latest episode of the Never Made It Pro podcast and he was asked about multiple issues involving the Saints. One topic that he focused on was the contractual situation of Bertrand. Sheldon believes that Bertrand’s situation could possibly revolve around the length of the new deal that the player is looking for.

Goal had recently reported about Bertrand, saying that the Englishman has attracted interest from the top six clubs and he is, alongside teammate Danny Ings, looking to play for sides in the Champions League. The report stated that Bertrand is delaying signing a new deal as he is looking for a pay rise, while Southampton are unwilling to break their wage structure. He is currently valued at £9.45m, according to Transfermarkt.

Should Southampton keep Bertrand?

Yes

Yes

No

No

While talking about Bertrand’s future, Sheldon said that his situation is a lot different from Ings’ case.

He said: “I think it’s a lot different from Danny’s situation. Ryan Bertrand can negotiate with a club overseas now, so he can sign a pre-contract with LA Galaxy in America, for example. Now, I don’t know if LA Galaxy are interested, I’ve just plucked them out of a hat, there’s nothing in that whatsoever. Nothing’s stopping him doing that. He’s out of contract in the summer.

“What I may put Ryan down to as to why this is taking some time is – you look at Ryan, he’s 31 years old. What type of contract length would he want, and will Southampton want to offer him that? Ryan, for example, might want three years. Do Southampton want to offer him three years? They might want to offer him two years but Ryan might not want two years, he wants three years. So how do you meet in the middle? These are all the talks that I imagine are definitely going on behind the scenes.”

TIF Thoughts on Sheldon’s comments on Bertrand…

Bertrand has been a regular for Southampton this season, making 18 appearances in all competitions for the club. While as many as 12 Southampton players have picked up better ratings than Bertrand in the current campaign, he is their only senior-level left-back option in the side, as per Transfermarkt. Jake Vokins is yet to play this season in the league, while Sam McQueen has not featured for the Saints since the 2017/18 campaign.

So Bertrand is an important player for the Saints and they should try to keep him at the club, especially if they don’t sign a potential replacement.

Share this article

European Football Writer. Contributed for FootballItalia, Manchester United, Manchester Evening News, Calciomercato, GFFN and more.