Lack of significant Wanyama interest baffling

It was not long ago that Victor Wanyama was being talked up in regards to a possible move to Manchester United, so recent reports linking him to firstly Southampton and now Cardiff might come as a bit of surprise.

Wanyama was one of the key factors in Celtic’s impressive run to the Champions League knock stages – particularly stand out were his performances in both games against Barcelona. Those efforts coupled with consistent form in the Scottish Premier League led to a significant number of reports linking him to some of England’s biggest clubs – with many seeing the 21 -ear-old holding midfielder as the answer to their long standing holding midfielder options.

Interest from the top clubs though for now appears to have cooled off and Southampton were first to look to take advantage of the fact that Wanyama has expressed a desire to leave Scotland this summer. At one stage it was reported the club had agreed a fee of around £12 million for the player and terms were to be discussed, however for now at least it seems the move has been placed firmly on ice.

Splashing the cash is nothing new for Southampton – given that in the last summer window they were the seventh biggest spenders across all of Europe. This is a club who are clearly determined to succeed at the highest level possible, just look at both that transfer spending and the ruthless sacking of Nigel Adkins for evidence of that.

Encouragingly their Wanyama chase does appear to have significant thought behind it – unlike many signings by clubs who are blessed with a wealth of cash. Last season whilst the Saint’s were glorious going forward, to often there was a significant gap between defense and attack that teams could exploit. The likes of Morgan Schneiderlin and Steve Davies were tasked to play in the slightly deeper midfield role – yet whilst these two are both good players their games are better suited to attack rather than defense. Wanyama would undoubtedly give the back four the defensive cover that was so often lacking last year, providing Southampton with exactly what they are need of to move forward next term.

Cardiff, like Southampton last year, look keen to flesh their new found financial muscle in order to bat away relegation – with young Danish striker Andreas Cornelius already joining the club for a record fee and highly chased Blackpool Tom Ince striker believed to the next in line. Signing Wanyama would smash their record transfer fee again and such a move highlights just how serious the Welsh club are about their Premier League assault. It goes without saying that Wanyama would be a huge coup for the club – however given that Southampton have as yet been unable to tempt the Kenyan, Cardiff are going to have to pull of some remarkable negotiations to tempt the player.

At just 22 years old Wayama is only likely to improve – which just adds more surprise that some of the big boys have as yet not entered this chase. He is blessed with not only supreme strength and energy but also strong footballing vision and further to that offers real calmness on the ball – attributes that most clubs would look for in a defensive midfielder. Sometimes players can get over hyped in the SPL, but make no doubt about Wanyama is the real deal and he should have no problems adapting to Premier League and whoever gets him will have a real gem on their hands.