Southampton boss Ronald Koeman further bolstered his wealth of attacking midfield options with the acquisition of Benfica’s Filip Djuricic on deadline day. The Serbian international, who joins Saints on loan till the end of the season, impressed Koeman with his versatility during the 23-year-old’s four-season stint in the Eredivisie.
“I know the player from Holland. He’s technical, fast and he can play in different positions in the midfield. He can play on the left side and the right side. It’s a good possibility for him, and for us it’s one more player who can play in different positions. It’s always best for the coach to have more possibilities in players who can change positions. The last few weeks we have had problems to score goals, like Sunday. We created good opportunities and you have to score, always it’s easy to have really good competition.”
The History
Djuricic started his footballing education at Red Star Belgrade’s youth academy, during which time he caught the eye of Olympiacos scouts and sealed a move to the Greek club in 2007. A year later, though, he returned to his native country and signed for hometown club Obrenovac, where he played 15 times before being snapped up by Eredivisie outfit SC Heerenveen in January 2010.
Djuricic spent four years in Holland learning his craft, a period in which Koeman managed Feyenoord and would’ve been afforded ample time to observe the wing forward up close. After a slow start to his career with Heerenveen, the playmaker finally established himself as a first-team regular and racked up 26 goals and 28 assists before making his way to Benfica for the 2013/14 campaign.
Again, though, Djuricic failed to hit the ground running, producing two goals and as many assists in 22 appearances over all competitions. Consequently loaned to Bundesliga side Mainz for the start of the 2014-15 season, he managed a single assist in 12 outings before Koeman came calling earlier this week. On the international stage, Djuricic has turned out on 19 occasions for Serbia and grabbed four goals.
The Prospects
With Koeman already keen to stress the new boy’s flexible qualities, it appears Djuricic will be tasked with playing across the front three in Saints’ typical 4-2-3-1 set-up. That being said, the Serbian spends the majority of his time on the flanks so is likely to threaten the playing time of Dusan Tadic, Sadio Mane and Eljero Elia more so than central playmaker James Ward-Prowse.
Question marks still remain over which permutation of attacking midfielders Koeman regards as his strongest, with Elia’s impressive brace in Mane’s absence strengthening the claim for the Dutchman’s inclusion. Elia started the weekend fixture against Swansea, yet Mane only returned from the African Cup of Nations – following Senegal’s exit – earlier in the week, so it’s premature to suggest we have a clear outlook of the Koeman’s intentions.
Frustratingly, at a time where Koeman’s side face five kind fixtures (qpr, WHM, wba, CPL, BUR) in the next seven, investment in their assets is on the rise but with Graziano Pelle misfiring up front, Fantasy managers are looking for some consistency of selection from Koeman to potentially hand us a mid-price option for our five-man squads.
Certainly, with three goals in three appearances (including strikes against Chelsea and Arsenal) prior to leaving for the African Cup of Nations, the 6.5-priced Mane looks the most likely if he can return to the XI at Loftus Road this weekend. Considering Djuricic’s limited playing time at Mainz (he didn’t complete a full 90 minutes in any of his 11 league appearances) and effectiveness (only five shots and a 75% pass accuracy), he undoubtedly faces a tough task to cement a starting role and with Elia’s 3.5% ownership looking nervously over their shoulders already, the new boy’s arrival only serves to further muddy the St Mary’s waters.
