There were high hopes when Southampton signed Angus Gunn from Manchester City in 2018, but the shot-stopper has seen his market value fall off a cliff in the past three years, which suggests that his arrival was yet another example of the south coast club massively overspending.
Gunn joined the Saints from City in a £13.5m deal in the summer of 2018 and was expected to challenge Alex McCarthy and Fraser Forster for the number one spot, but he has managed just 30 appearances for Southampton thus far, in which he has conceded 52 goals and kept only eight clean sheets.
Did Southampton overpay for Gunn?
Yes
No
With Forster returning from a season-long loan at Celtic ahead of this season, Gunn was allowed to join Stoke City on loan for the campaign in the Championship, where he has made 14 appearances, conceding 18 goals and keeping six clean sheets.
In a recent report by The Athletic journalist Dan Sheldon, it was suggested that the 25-year-old is likely to join the Potters on loan again next season unless Southampton receive a bid similar to the one they paid for the shot-stopper in 2018, in which case they would be willing to sell.
However, it seems unlikely that the south coast club would be able to receive anywhere near the £13.5m they paid for him, given that Transfermarkt currently values the 25-year-old at just £2.7m.
Given that Gunn was valued at just £1.8m by Transfermarkt after a loan spell with Norwich City, it seems clear that former sporting director Ross Wilson massively overpaid for the goalkeeper in 2018.
Unfortunately for both Gunn and Southampton, his value has only declined during his time on the South Coast, and it is difficult to ever see him making it as a regular in Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side.
Therefore, in a similar vein to a worrying amount of Wilson signings, the Saints may have to cash in on the ‘keeper for a serious loss in the near future, or they risk having to keep paying his reported £33k per week wage until his contract expires in 2023.
In other news… Southampton could find their next Kelvin Davis in £3.6m-rated beast