"The most surprising one..." - Journalist reacts as ace could be axed by Southampton this summer

Speculation surrounding the future of Southampton’s Nathan Redmond is the ‘most surprising’ as doubts are raised over several attackers, according to The Sun journalist Tom Barclay.

Fellow forwards Theo Walcott and Moussa Djenepo have also seen their futures at St. Mary’s come into question as the summer transfer window edges ever closer.

None of Redmond, Walcott or Djenepo were included in Ralph Hasenhuttl’s matchday squad for the recent 1-1 draw against Leeds United, after the Austrian tactician switched formation from his usual 4-2-2-2.

The 54-year-old was asked what this decision meant for the trio in his post-match interview, where he claimed it was down to the tactical change.

“It is a sign that we have in this position a lot of duels,” Hasenhuttl said. “This is maybe the hardest position for the first XI, because we had six tens, and we changed shape and we had only one ten against Leeds.

“That’s the reason we left them at home because we didn’t need them on the bench.”

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However, Redmond, Walcott and Djenepo were also all left out of the starting XI for the 6-0 defeat to Chelsea despite Hasenhuttl’s switch back to his favoured setup, and the same situation happened last time out against Arsenal.

And according to The Athletic, Southampton ‘will listen to offers’ for the trio in the summer after falling down the pecking order at the south coast club.

Walcott, Djenepo and Redmond are all out of contract in the summer of 2023, but Barclay believes it’s the latter’s availability that is the most unexpected.

He told GiveMeSport: “Redmond, he’s probably the most surprising one in a way because he was actually quite a key figure early in the season.

“He’