Saints Need To Sign Up Ex Chelsea Duo To New Deals
Two mainstays of the past half a decade or so at St Mary's have been signed from Chelsea at a bargain price, now both are in the last year of their current deals and after great starts to the season it is time to reward them.
Ryan Bertrand arrived at St Mary's in the summer of 2014 replacing Luke Shaw initially on a loan deal made permanent in January 2015, now with 169 Premier League appearances to his name, only 1 as sub and another 17 games in cup competitions, the £10 million we paid for Ryan Bertrand proved to be an absolute bargain and when we look at it in context with the money we got from Manchester United for Luke Shaw it is obvious that we got the best end of that deal.
Likewise Oriol Romeu, he arrived a year later in July 2015 for only £5 million and for the price has to be one of the best signings of the past 5 years, in the Premier League he has started 137 games with 28 as sub, plus another 31 in the cups he has actually played more games than, Bertrand overall. He was player of the year in 2016/17 and has been a great servant.
The imminent departure of Pierre Emile Hojbjerg opened up a new opportunity in the summer restart and he has continued his good form this season, arguably being the most consistent player so far.
But both are in the final year of their contract and could leave for nothing in the summer.
I would hope that they would be offered a new deal sooner than later, rumours have been doing the rounds but so far there has been nothing contract.
At 31 Bertrand has a couple of good seasons left in him and Romeu having just turned 29 perhaps 3.
The truth is that we would have to pay a lot more next summer to replace them, so it would be good to see them signed up now so we can concentrate on other areas next summer in the transfer market.
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