A Southampton player was handed a new role by manager Russell Martin during the club’s friendly against Oxford United.
Southampton are gearing up for their first season back in the Premier League after winning the 2023/24 play-off final.
The Saints have had an active transfer window so far with 11 first-team players joining the club.
Russell Martin has been using the 2024 pre-season to begin embedding a number of these players and build his squad’s fitness.
Southampton’s pre-season kicked off on Friday, July 19th, with a 7-1 hammering of Eastleigh.
Martin guided Southampton to a 3-1 victory over Bordeaux on Wednesday, July 24th, in their second fixture.
This was followed by another win over Ligue 1 opposition three days later, with the South Coast side picking up a 3-2 win over Montpellier.
Southampton’s most recent tie saw them travel to the Kassam Stadium for a meeting with Oxford United on July 31st.
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Russell Martin trials Southampton star in new role
In truth, it was a rough evening for Southampton as they succumbed to their first defeat of pre-season so far.
Martin did not start his strongest eleven and made a number of changes throughout the game.
Even so, the Saints boss will be disappointed to have lost the meeting with Oxford by two goals to nil.
It was not all doom and glom for Southampton, however, as one star shone in a new role.
Ryan Manning was played out of position in the centre of midfield but was one of the club’s better performers on Wednesday.
The natural left-back earned a 6/10 rating from the Daily Echo – the joint-second highest rating from the game, and was dubbed ‘brave’ in the sites review:
The Daily Echo wrote: “Starting position that of a midfield number six – was always brave showing for the ball.
“Nearly set up Alcaraz expertly with a long ball but also had two wayward crosses fly out of play.”
Position change could save Ryan Manning Southampton career
Manning was a regular feature at Southampton during their promotion-winning campaign, appearing 41 times.
However, Martin’s summer signings so far seem to suggest he thinks the 28-year-old is not good enough to start for the club in the Premier League.
The Saints have already signed two new left-backs this summer in Charlie Taylor and Welington.
Welington could be an upgrade on Manning, while Southampton have been urged to sign three left-backs who would do a better job than the Irishman.
In turn, Manning looked set to be fazed out of the starting line-up for the 2024/25 Premier League season.
But after impressing in midfield against Oxford, Martin may have found a new role for the fringe star going forward.
There is much less competition for places in Southampton’s midfield heading into the new campaign, with Manning’s new-found versatility likely to see him kept at St Mary’s this summer.