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What would Valere Germain bring to Southampton next season?
New Southampton boss Claude Puel has high hopes for the Saints this season, particularly as they gear up for 2016/17 having secured Europa League football the season prior. The Frenchman therefore, to an extent, is still reaping the rewards of his time at Ligue 1 club OGC Nice, whom he guided to a 4th-place finish in 2015/16 thus securing European football for themཧ also, before he was shown the exit door to make way for Lucien Favre.
Puel since has taken the reins at Southampton following Ronaldo Ko🐭eman’s exit for Everton, and he is seek🧸ing to continue the renaissance of the South Coast club with his own French Revolution at St. Mary’s, and after the departure of Graziano Pelle, Puel is reportedly keen to bring goals to his team with the addition of one of his colleagues on the French Riviera last season in Valere Germain.
The 26-year-old forme⭕r was signed for Nice by Puel in 2015/16 on loan from Riviera rivals M🌠onaco, and the slender centre-forward paid dividends with 14 Ligue 1 goals in 38 appearances in Nice’s run to a 4th-place finish and bringing European club football to the new Allianz Riviera for the first time.
Standing at 5 ft 11, Germain is not the type of forward who would be as able in the air as Shane Long. At Nice, where he enj✤oyed the most prolific and consistent spell of his career, the Marseille-born striker profited from playing with another creative forward player in Hatem Ben Arfa, thriving off balls into feet behind the defence, which is where he plundered most of his goals including key wi🐓nning strikes in games against Marseille, Lyon and St-Etienne.
Germain therefore should not be expected to act as a spearhead forward who will replace all of Pelle’s attributes directly, but may well return faith with goals if Puel’s Southampton line-up in any way like Puel’s Nice, centred around playing football on the gro🥂und and getting in behind through passing and running at players, rather tha🌄n aerial service to the forwards.
If Germain is to be Pelle’s direct replacement, this may well hint at Puel directing his Southampton team to play their football in such a manner, although with the loss of Sad💞io Mane to Liverpool, his side still lacks a creative lynchpin similar to Ben Arfa who can run at players and unlock defences in a similar manner. He has a creative presence in Dusan Tadic, but with Ben Arfa’s influence often coming from cutting inside and going central, Puel may require another like-minded player in order to get the best out of Germain and indeed Shane Long in a new system.
If his aerial presence lacks somewhat, Germain does make up for it with his pace. He was especially dangerous in his Nice days playing off the last defender, and has a remarkable eye for goal when played in. The player offers a positive outlet also in his manner of running at defenders, but lacks the refined technical ability to do so in the manner of a Ben Arfa style player, which is why Germain comes in th💞e guise of finisher for most Nice fans, rather a creative forward.
He is however unselfish in front of goal, and as well as his pace providing the half a yard in key games required to take a chance at goal, he is equally as intelligent in knowing where his ♑teammates will be to play them in if n♏ecessary.
With his most prolific spell as a senior professional under his belt, there is a good bet that with the right players around him, Valere Germain can push on and continue to score goals on a regular basis. He is however unproven outside of his native France, and will come up against stronger defenders. Not known for his strength, with a creative strike partner like Long and a playmaker who can create chances up with them, Germain could thrive as he did at Nice playing off the last man and using his pace to g🐬et in behind and provide Saints with a fresh source of goals, particularly in European competition.
Whether Puel opts to recruit him remains to be seen, and it would be interesting to see 🐷how this forward 🌜who seems to be hitting his stride would cope with the demands of English football. Puel certainly knows his potential target well and what he is capable of producing, but it is down to the player and the tactics he would be adhering to as to whether or not he would really excel.
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