Why Southampton signing Husein Balic would be a great move

According to Daily Mail, Husein Balic has attracted the attention of Southampton among other clubs. The speedy winger who has made a name for his ridiculous sprinting ability reportedly can run 20 meters in 2.75 seconds. He also clocked a running speed of 39 kmph in a U-21 game versus France. Along with Southampton, Brentford and Celtic have been mentioned to have an interest in him.

Profile

Husein Balic is a 24-year-old Austrian forward who plays for Austrian Bundesliga side LASK. He started out his youth career at SK Vorwarts Steyr in 2006 and spent the next 4 years developing there. Post that, he made the move to AKA Linz.

There, he progressed through the youth teams and eventually moved back to Vorwarts Steyr in 2013. He would make 42 appearances over the course of two seasons, scoring 4 goals. SKN St. Polten signed him in 2015 but he spent the next few seasons in their reserve team.

It was only in 2018 that he was promoted to the senior side and got regular games. In 69 games for them, he scored 12 goals and assisted another 7 (source – Transfermarkt). Midway through last season, he was signed by LASK.

So far, he has made 30 appearances for them and contributed to 14 goals. He was a regular part of the Austria U-21 side. The forward is currently a part of the senior setup but is yet to play a game.

Balic would be a good signing for Southampton

Southampton have started the season really well with 5 wins from 8 games as they sit in a surprising 4th place. While the team has shown immense promise, there are still areas of improvement.

Wingers would be a good place to start. It’s rather surprising that they have only Nathan Redmond, Moussa Djenepo and Theo Walcott as the wide players in the team. They sorely need at least one more player in that department and Balic could be the same.

The Austrian plays on the left but can also chip into other positions such as centre-forward when required. He would be well suited to the pace and physicality of the English game with his records in sprinting speeds.

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With just a price tag of £2.8million in January, he would be an absolute steal for the Saints given the current economic situation in football.