Ralph Hasenhuttl pleased Leicester signed Jannik Vestergaard and Ryan Bertrand

Southampton boss Ralph Hasenhuttl is clearly pleased that Leicester City signed his former players Jannik Vestergaard and Ryan Bertrand in the summer.

I’m sure Foxes of Leicester‘s introduction paragraph above will draw everything from derision and despair for Leicester fans, to downright chuckling from Saints supporters. Oh to be one of the Foxes faithful, eh? I bet Hasenhuttl is content with the swaps – and the Blue Army knows exactly why.

To be fair, Southampton’s support have and had their own problems to be concerned with: a 9-0 loss at home to someone for example – I can’t remember who presently. Although, both clubs ply a similar approach in dealings and philosophy, so either sets of followers can be sympathetic and empathise with one another.

Of course the two sides met on Wednesday night in a fairly thrilling 2-2 stalemate which the Foxes arguably should have been victorious in. Excellent opportunities were spurned by the usually clinical Jamie Vardy and the typically erratic Harvey Barnes.

Leicester City deal with Southampton

The most recent business conducted between the pair of Premier League outfits occurred during the now passed 2021 summer transfer window. Vestergaard was signed for a reported £15million after a long courtship initiated by the east Midlanders. His contributions at Leicester have been uneven to say the least.

Bertrand was captured in a free deal as his contract had expired; the left-back actually seemed a particularly promising addition in preseason, but a poor return after contracting covid appears to have ended his chances as a first team starter. It feels as though the Hampshire side knew precisely what they were doing with regards to the standard of assets Leicester would receive.

All in all, neither signing is likely to be very fruitful for Brendan Rodgers’ team; there are many stars ahead of the two in different positions. To be frank, the duo probably shouldn’t have been acquired.

And Hasenhuttl couldn’t resist mentioning how vindicating it is to feel proven right:

"“I think it was just our only alternative, we had to let them go. Jannik had one year left on his deal, we had to do this…similar with Ryan.“Ryan was at an age where we thought we could sign a better option for the future, a younger one. We wanted to rebuild our back four and we now have a very young back four now who will learn very fast in the Premier League.”Daily Echo"