Southampton gaffer Ralph Hasenhuttl has revealed that transfer reports on defender Mohammed Salisu are making him lose focus.
In recent weeks Salisu has made some individual errors that have contributed to some bad defensive displays and a bad run in form, both personally and collectively.
Former Liverpool player Danny Murphy rated his individual effort against Manchester City in January as “phenomenal.”
However, his performance sparked speculation about his future, with Newcastle United linked with a January deal for the Ghanaian defender that never happened.
And Hasenhuttl concedes that Salisu’s recent form may have been influenced by off-field concerns, with Southampton conceding 15 goals in the last five games he has played in all competitions.
“The Man City game was where they all praised him for being fantastic and it was his last really good game he played. It is always difficult for you as a manager to say what is going on in the background with him and all the things, all the rumours but I think this is a typical example of how quickly you can lose the focus and drop with your performances,” Hasenhuttl said.
“I think it’s on me – and you can be sure that I speak with him very often about that – to get his head clear because the last performances have been far away from what he has shown. He is a good package normally, we all know,”
“At the moment we are having the issue also with Ramadan and for these players it is not so easy. Some handle it better some don’t feel so energetic, but for me it is important that he gets back to the Sali he was before these last two or three games,” he ended.
