Saints boss happy to let defensive pair leave

SOUTHAMPTON manager Ralph Hasenhuttl feels his club signed “better options” after selling Ryan Bertrand and Jannik Vestergaard to Leicester City over the summer, writes Jordan Blackwell.

The Saints boss believes it was the right decision to move on from the veteran defensive duo and sign younger players, and his call has so far been justified.

Since arriving on a free transfer from St Mary’s, left-back Bertrand has won just one of his eight starts for City, the Community Shield, while £15 million centre-back Vestergaard has not won any of his seven starts in blue.

City have also kept just one Premier League clean sheet this season, while the Saints have five.

Going into tonight’s meeting between the clubs, City are four points and five places above the south coast outfit.

“I think it was just our only alternative, we had to let them go,” Hasenhuttl told HampshireLive.

“Jannik had one year left on his deal, we had to do this. It was the same with Danny Ings, similar with Ryan.

“Ryan was at an age where we thought we could sign a better option for the future, a younger one.

“We wanted to rebuild our back four and we now have a very young back four now who will learn very fast in the Premier League.

“Tino (Livramento), Kyle (WalkerPeters), Romain (Perraud), (Mo) Salisu at the back, they’re young and not so experienced but they do a good job so far with five clean sheets, this is massive and a good signal.

“As I always said, it makes more sense to invest in a young player who develops himself and the club.

“In a few years, we might sell them for big money and then the next young one will come in.

“This is how we want to go and it is our only alternative, to be honest.”

Both Vestergaard and Bertrand may not feature on their return to St Mary’s tonight.

Bertrand has not played in any of City’s last six Premier League fixtures, since the 2-2 draw at Crystal Palace, while Vestergaard has not played in any of the last four, since he was used as a substitute to help see out the 2-1 win at Brentford.