Demarai Gray of Leicester City during the Carabao Cup match at the King Power Stadium, Leicester. Picture date: 23rd September 2020. Picture credit should read: Darren Staples/Sportimage PUBLICATIONxNOTxINxUK SPI-0667-0076
According to The Sun (h/t Daily Mail), Southampton have joined the race to sign Demarai Gray from Leicester City. Gray has slipped to the fringes at Leicester and is looking for a way out. His contract expires in less than six months and he is currently free to sign a pre-contract agreement with clubs outside England. While there are offers from outside England, Southampton’s offer is too good to pass up.
The 24-year-old English forward started his youth career at Birmingham City’s academy in 2006. Spending 6 years in the youth side, he was promoted to the U-18s.
After two more seasons, he was given a crack in the senior team and was handed his debut against Millwall in October 2013. From the following season, he started to feature on a more regular basis. He made a total of 78 appearances for Birmingham City, scoring 8 goals and assisting 4 more.
Leicester signed him in 2016 and he became an immediate first-team player. He was given more and more game time as the seasons progressed. To date, Gray has made 169 appearances for Leicester, scoring 13 goals and assisting 17 (source – Transfermarkt). The winger has been a common name in the England youth teams but is yet to receive a call-up to the senior side.
One would be lying if they said Ralph Hasenhuttl hasn’t done a good job at Southampton. They are in the top half of the table and have looked quite the side this season. Most of their players have done rather well this season, scoring at a good rate and defending with vigor. While there seems to be no immediate requirement for the side, they could actually do with some reinforcements in the wide areas.
Theo Walcott, Nathan Redmond and Moussa Djenepo are their recognised wingers as they have had to use some of the central midfielders in those areas. Adding a young winger like Demarai Gray would go a long way in easing that issue for the club.
The Leicester man may have fallen down the pecking order under Brendan Rodgers but he is a huge talent. He was capable of putting in tremendous displays as fans have seen in recent years. At just 24 years of age, he has enough time to revitalise his career and get back on track. Southampton are on an upward trajectory and could do with some additional players who have proven themselves in the Premier League. Gray would also get a chance to feature on a more frequent basis under a solid manager like Ralph Hasenhuttl.