Manager fears relegation after Southampton signed his ‘exceptional’ £8.5m star

Add as preferred source on Google

Southampton have proven time and time again over the years – whether it be Virgil van Dijk, Cedric Soares, Guido Rodriguez or Mario Lemina – that most players are replaceable, at least to some extent.

When Virgil van Dijk left for Liverpool, becoming the most expensive defender in football history at the time, in came Jannik Vestegaard.

Out went Cedric, in came Kyle Walker-Peters. Guido Rodriguez for Danny Ings. Mario Lemina for Romeo Lavia. And while the replacements were not always as successful as those who come before – Southampton arguably never found natural successor for Sadio Mane, for instance – there is always value to be found for clubs willing to look for it.

But when Southampton signed the ‘exceptional’ Leo Scienza from Heidenheim for a fee in the region of £8.5 million, the longest-serving manager in German football history felt that trying to find a readymade replacement so late in the window was always going to be a losing battle.

Frank Schmidt bemoans Leo Scienza leaving Heidenheim for Southampton

Frank Schmidt revelled in the sight of Leo Scienza keeping Heidenheim heads above water last season.

To quote chairman Holger Sanwald, the Brazilian’s devastating winner in the relegation play-off against Elversberg ‘will forever be remembered’.

Speaking to Kicker, Schmidt now admits that he was taken aback by the speed of Scienza’s departure. After Southampton’s pursuit of Edouard Spertsyan slowed – the Saints reportedly offered £10.5 million for the Krasnodar captain before shifting their focus to Germany – Scienza put pen to paper on a four-year deal on deadline day.

“Just a week ago, he was telling me how beautiful and fantastic everything is here,” says a frustrated Schmidt, who took over at Heidenheim all the way back in 2007 when the likes of Bradley Wright-Phillips, Andrew Surman and Jason Euell were representing Southampton.

“That shows how things can develop on the transfer market. We’ve lost some [Scienza-like qualities] in the past few months. We need to strengthen ourselves again in this area so that we can play to our potential.”

Scienza kept Heidenheim in the Bundesliga

While Southampton never came close to pulling off a Heidenheim-esque escape from relegation last season, Schmidt worries that his team’s Bundesliga run could come to an end unless a Scienza-shaped void can be filled.

“If we want to have a chance of staying in the league this year, we can only achieve that if we come together more closely as a team and club and bring our DNA back to life on the pitch,” Schmidt adds.

“Millions of dollars are being announced for players, and no one knows whether the player will improve the team or not. If we’re looking for new players, we can’t look in the Bundesliga, that’s just not possible. Even the money we earned through Scienza wouldn’t be enough.”

Will Still shares early verdict of Schmid’s Saints debut

Scienza made his debut off the bench during Sunday’s dull derby draw with Portsmouth.

His late introduction not enough to break the resilience of John Mousinho’s well-drilled side. Scienza, who kicked off the new Bundesliga campaign with a free-kick James Ward-Prowse would have been proud of, was one of four new recruits from German football.

Joshua Quarshie and Damion Downs arrived from Hoffenheim and Koln, while German legend Toni Kroos was unhappy to see Caspar Jander leave Nurnberg for England’s second tier rather than aim for a chance in the Bundesliga.

Leo Scienza reportedly rejected Paris FC, the ambitious Ligue 1 newcomers, for Southampton.

“He made the choice to come to Southampton, because there were other opportunities for him out there and there were other offers,” head coach Will Still tells the Daily Echo. “You can see how hungry he is to play in England and to make a step up again to being competitive at this level.

“There’s a lot about him as a person, a lot about him as a player. We’ve just got to help him settle in, understand what we’re doing, how we’re trying to do it and what it looks like.

“Again, the physicality is completely different to what he’s known and what it looks like. He’s been pretty surprised in training, which is good.”