Russell Martin has been speaking on the chances of Southampton keeping Kyle Walker-Peters this summer with constant speculation on the player’s future.
One of the biggest surprises in the summer that followed Southampton‘s relegation to the Championship last year was the fact that Kyle Walker-Peters stayed at the club.
Southampton were left with little choice but to sanction big money exits for fellow right-back Tino Livramento, as well as the likes of Romeo Lavia, James Ward-Prowse and Nathan Tella.
However, Walker-Peters remained and was immense as he helped Southampton secure a return to the Premier League at the first attempt; a division in which he showed he belongs.
Russell Martin hopeful of Kyle Walker-Peters staying at Southampton
The bad news for Southampton is that Walker-Peters has entered the final year of his contract.
This means he is likely to be available for less than his true value which, combined with his ability, has seen the likes of West Ham, Tottenham and Brighton register interest.
West Ham were pushing hardest for the 27-year-old but have now signed Aaron Wan-Bissaka as their new right-back seeing them exit the race.
Interest from both Brighton and Tottenham has cooled somewhat, but Spurs’ sale of Emerson Royal to AC Milan could see them revive their interest.
Walker-Peters has a contract offer on the table and Southampton will he signs it, but manager Russell Martin revealed in his pre-Newcastle United press conference that he is growing increasingly confident of keeping Walker-Peters.
Martin was asked by the media on Thursday afternoon how likely it is that Walker-Peters remains a Saint beyond the end of August, to which he responded: “I’m a lot more hopeful and a lot more confident than I was six weeks ago that we might keep him.
“It was the same all last summer and he didn’t let it effect him one bit. This summer’s a bit different because he has a year left on his contract so the situation changes a little bit.
“But he was great for us last year, he’s the ultimate professional in the way that he trains and he’s still here and he’s in contention and he’s a fantastic player.
“He knows what we expect of him and he did it brilliantly last year so if he is asked to play Saturday he’ll have no problem at all.”
Southampton unlikely to sign another full-back if Walker-Peters leaves
Southampton secured their contingency plan for a potential Walker-Peters exit early in the summer as they paid AZ Alkmaar £5.88 million for exciting right-back Yukinari Sugawara.
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The Japan international has been impressive in pre-season and played right wingback against Getafe last weekend as Walker-Peters played the same role on the left in the transfer-linked ace’s first minutes of the summer.
Should Walker-Peters be sold in the remaining days of the transfer window it is unlikely to mean the Saints look to sign another right-back as they have James Bree who can act as back-up to Sugawara.
As it stands, Walker-Peters is a Southampton player and is expected to reprise his left wingback role against Newcastle in the season-opener on Saturday.