The Athletic’s Dan Sheldon has featured on the latest edition of the Total Saints podcast to discuss all things related to Southampton following their 2-0 defeat against Liverpool.
One topic of discussion was the future of forward Michael Obafemi who has struggled for game time in the 2020/21 Premier League campaign (via Transfermarkt).
The 20-year-old Irishman has featured twice off the bench for Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side this season having struggled with an injury since the turn of the year.
Obafemi joined the Saints in 2016 from the Leyton Orient youth squad and has made 36 appearances for the first team and scored five times in those games (via Transfermarkt).
However, the Saints journalist Sheldon has discussed Hasenhuttl’s upbeat comments on the forward and the 20-year-old’s outlook on his Saints career since suffering his latest injury.
He said (29:39): “Ralph has spoken relatively highly of Michael [Obafemi] in recent weeks compared to what he normally says about him and has been impressed by how he’s trained and how he’s applied himself.
“And I think the way he described it, I think Michael was maybe seeing this injury as a wake-up call that he maybe needed, if you don’t kind of sort your life out off the pitch in terms of being professional all the time, then, yeah, it can be a very short career.”
TIF Thoughts on Sheldon’s comments…
From what Sheldon has said it seems clear the latest injury sustained by the forward has been somewhat of a reality check for Obafemi and his career at St. Mary’s.
He returned to the first team on the weekend in their defeat at Anfield with Hasenhuttl giving the youngster a 24-minute cameo towards the end of the game with the Saints looking for a way back into the game.
With star striker Danny Ings currently out injured, could this provide Obafemi with the opportunity he needs to establish him as a player which should be in the plans of Hasenhuttl going forward?
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