It was widely regarded as a good piece of opportunistic business when Southampton secured a deal totalling £11 million to sign 19-year-old striker Sékou Mara from cash-strapped Bordeaux in the summer of 2022.
The Saints beat the likes of Newcastle, Aston Villa and Leeds to secure the signing of the France under-21 international forward, but are arguably yet to get any tangible return on their investment with Mara all too often flattering to deceive.
When Southampton’s relegation was confirmed at the end of last season it was widely thought that a spell in the Championship could be the making of the man who scored seven and assisted two in 34 games in France.
That hasn’t yet proved to be the case, with the 21-year-old’s only league start this season coming out of position on the right wing in the 5-0 defeat to Sunderland.
Mara has featured eight times in total for Southampton in the league this season but has failed to make an impact, registering no goals or assists and doing little to stake a claim for a more prominent role.
Southampton still hopeful Sekou Mara can fulfil potential
Mara hasn’t been able to even make minutes off the bench in any of Southampton’s last three league outings, which represents a rather low point in a season that is yet to get going for the Frenchman.
Southampton have clearly seen something they like in the £25k-a-week striker, and to score six goals in your first full season of senior football in a relegated Bordeaux side in financial turmoil is a respectable achievement. Whilst it is yet to really click for Mara in a Southampton shirt he has shown glimpses of quality, including his first-time finish as Southampton knocked Manchester City out of the Carabao Cup last season.
The problem is that these moments have been few and far between and that goal against the treble winners was one of only two he has scored for Saints; the other coincidentally coming in a 4-1 league defeat to the same opponents.
There was interest in Mara in the summer and German side Werder Bremen were reportedly very keen to take the striker on loan for the season but Southampton blocked the move. This suggests the St Mary’s club have faith that he will be able to provide a return on his investment sooner rather than later.
This is a sentiment shared by his manager, with Russell Martin plotting a route to more regular football in the wake of omitting the youngster from the squad against Birmingham, saying: “How he gets himself into the team is by being the best version of himself he can be every day, and by being all-in with his football. He has trained really well recently and will be really disappointed with how he performed last Wednesday (in the 2-2 draw with Preston) because he was not the Sékou we see in training.”
Is Ross Stewart’s return bad news for Mara?
It is about to get even more difficult for Mara to get opportunities given that summer signing Ross Stewart is now in contention, having made his debut in Southampton’s win over West Brom in their last game.
Having been out injured with an achilles problem since January and signed for £10 million it is expected that once Stewart is fit he will be the main man upfront for his new club.
With that, Mara finds himself further down a pecking order he was already low on. Club captain Adam Armstrong is currently the first choice striker, with Carlos Alcaraz also often deployed as a false nine.
With Stewart injured, this has generally left Mara and Adams to battle for opportunities off the bench, but Stewart’s return is going to make it more difficult for both to be involved.
With Adams’ contract expiring next summer and a January departure likely, Mara has to show Martin he is more than just a player with potential. The young attacker must start to take his opportunities when they come and ask questions of his manager or risk seeing his Southampton career slip away.
The Frenchman is yet to earn a consistent run of games under four different managers at Southampton, which suggests the problem lies with the player himself. It is now up to Mara to find what that problem is and make his mark on English football.