The Ralph Hasenhuttl FaceTime that helped Gavin Bazunu make 'easy' Southampton transfer decision

Gavin Bazunu has always been a player comfortable with making big decisions in his career.

By the time he was 16 he was already starting in goal for boyhood club Shamrock Rovers in the League of Ireland Premier Division, and after just six appearances for the Hoops he was quickly on the move to Manchester City to continue his development after the Premier League champions had shown a keen interest in him.

Eager to get as much first-team football as possible under his belt following time playing in the Under-18s and Under-23s, he soon went out on loan twice to League One, first with Rochdale and then Portsmouth before Southampton came calling this summer and a permanent deal was struck with City that saw the 20-year-old head to the south coast for a reported £12million fee.

The Saints had sent scouts to watch Bazunu during his loan spell with Pompey last season and were quickly convinced he could cut the mustard in the Premier League, with Bazunu’s ten caps for the Republic of Ireland backing up what they thought after hours of scouting - he was ready for the big stage.

A FaceTime call with Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl and a chat with goalkeeping coach Andrew Sparkes soon followed, with Bazunu more than happy to make the switch to St Mary’s after being made to feel like the club had shown more than enough interest in wanting him to take the next step of his career on the south coast.

“The starting point would have been when my agent told me about the interest,” the shot-stopper told ahead of Southampton’s opening Premier League game of the season this Saturday against Tottenham Hotspur.

“He gave me the information that they’d been to watch a lot of my games last season. The biggest thing for me was that