Southampton coach Ronald Koeman has criticised Tottenham Hotspur transfer target Victor Wanyama as the end of the summer window nears.
The Kenyan powerhouse has been heavily linked with a move to the North London heavyweights this summer [Mirror], and was left out of the Saints’ squad for their Sunday fixture against Norwich City in the Premier League.
Even without the East African, the south-coast club cruised to victory, defeating the newly-promoted Canaries 3-0 in a convincing display.
However, Wanyama remains a critical figure for Southampton and Dutch coach Koeman will be keen to keep the powerhouse on board.
Ahead of the fixture against Norwich, Koeman admitted that the player was not “mentally and physically good enough to play”, and after the fixture, the former Netherlands international has shed more light on the player’s state.
“We had a meeting and it is true [that he has asked to leave], but it is the same question what it was for Sadio [Mane] and every player in this team—nobody is for sale,” the manager began, as per ESPN.
“It is a difficult situation because Victor mentioned himself that he is not with his mind to the team,” the coach continued.
“If Victor shows the commitment to the team and he comes back we would like to have him in the team, that is no problem. If he keeps playing like this he is playing with his own future and that is not good.
“It was important to play with players who are really committed to the team and really focused on today. The situation with Victor is that he has lost some focus to the team, to the club and that is the reason I finally took the decision to keep him out of the squad.”
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Last week, the Mirror reported that Tottenham were keen on signing both Southampton’s Wanyama and Bayer Leverkusen forward Son Heung-Min before the transfer window closed.
The latter has already completed his move to White Hart Lane [The Guardian], while Spurs will be hoping that the former Celtic man will join the South Korean in North London.