Southampton’s play-off final victory against Leeds United marked a significant turnaround, with the internal mood transformed and spirit stark.
Less than a year earlier, Romain Perraud was among the 12 players who had left upon relegation to the Championship and moved on loan to Nice. Twelve months away meant either the can had been kicked down the road, leading to an inevitable departure permanently or, as is often the case with players, a reintegration into a rejuvenated squad competing again in the Premier League.
Perraud, though, wanted to think objectively.
“I’m not a guy who will try and benefit from a situation,” he says. “I was not here last year and Southampton had an unbelievable season. I had no relationship with the manager (Russell Martin). I was not part of the promotion. I didn’t want to be here and try to benefit from the promotion. My time was finished and I needed to write a new book.
“I was at Southampton for two years (between 2021 to 2023). At the end of my second season, I fractured my foot against Bournemouth and came back to training at the end of July and then was trying to come back into the squad. A new manager was here and he brought in a new full-back from Swansea City (Ryan Manning). I thought it was a signal that the club didn’t want me and it was time to change direction.”
Perraud had two years in the Premier League with Southampton (David Cannon/Getty Images)
Perraud is speaking to The Athletic a day before pre-season begins at his new side Real Betis. He is yet to move into his new apartment in Spain, instead staying at a hotel nearby alongside his partner, who is expecting a baby girl.
Former Manchester City and West Ham manager Manuel Pellegrini is in charge at Betis and despite not speaking to Perraud directly, knew the profile of left-back he wanted. Perraud namechecks Isco and Nabil Fekir as team-mates he is most excited to be playing with — “smooth, beautiful players” — and knowing two left-backs left Betis this summer — Juan Miranda and Abner — had laid out the platform for him.
Still only 26, Perraud will embark on his fifth club and a third country, but requested an interview with The Athletic for an opportunity to discuss his time at Southampton.
A lukewarm loan spell at Nice last season was hampered by injury and a late arrival, having signed for the French side four matches into the campaign. But a general lack of game-time limited Perraud to 21 appearances and, by and large, he remained out of sight and out of mind to those still at Southampton.
It meant watching the play-off final with mixed emotions. He was sat at home and, in his words, “delighted after watching an amazing game” but in acceptance he would not be sticking around to taste subsequent Premier League fruits.
“My agent Raquel informed me about interest from different clubs before the game,” he says. “The best way was to decide to leave. For the club, it was important to let me go for a good price (€3.5million; £3m). Personally, it was a good feeling because I left in a good way.
“It was the best option possible. I only think good things about Southampton because my time there was unbelievable. It was a kind and happy relationship, so I followed the team throughout last season, watching their style, how they played and, of course, that match at Wembley. I could leave knowing Southampton was back where it belonged.”
Perraud starts recalling his time in England, even if it begins long before completing a £1omillion move to the south coast in the summer of 2021. In truth, the wheels had been greased long before, when the Frenchman held video and phone calls with club scouts, taken aback by the depth of knowledge they held.
Perraud played in his native France with Nice last season (VALERY HACHE/AFP via Getty Images)
“When I was at Stade Brest, I had many talks with Southampton,” he says. “They said they had watched me 52 times as a professional player. I was impressed by the quality of their understanding of me — it was unbelievable the level of detail they went to. After, I had a chance to speak with Ralph (Hasenhuttl) and he told me that Ryan Bertrand was leaving.
“He said, ‘We watched a lot of your games and your profile is what we want.’ So for me, without hesitation, it was the perfect team to realise my dream of playing in the Premier League. Southampton was perfect because they had great people and an excellent atmosphere to work.”
Hasenhuttl’s remit for left-backs was ferocious. He demanded ball-orientated pressing, requiring defenders to relentlessly leave their man and hunt the ball. It was energy-sapping and risk-taking, operating within a high line that left players one-against-one at the back. Hasenhuttl preached the mantra that if you put a lot into the system, you would get a lot out of it.
“It was a fantastic way to play,” Perraud says. “Ralph commands a lot of energy because you had to press everywhere with a lot of effort. You would always be told to sprint back and never jog. You had to be aggressive. I looked at it as a great chance to discover this kind of football. He made me see football differently. I gave everything possible to learn.
“Unfortunately, I don’t have contact with Ralph now. I know he is in Germany with Wolfsburg but I keep in touch with team-mates and everybody at Southampton, from the chef Billy to the physical trainers and physios. All these people were extremely kind to me and I gave the same back all the way.”
Conversation naturally leads to Southampton’s on-pitch decline in Perraud’s second year. It ended Hasenhuttl and two other managers’ time at St Mary’s in Nathan Jones and Ruben Selles, as well as, on reflection, Perraud’s.
“My first season was very good because we did well,” he says. “In February 2022, we were ninth after a big win at Tottenham. We finished 15th but the next year was more difficult because of a lot of changes in direction.
“We lost experienced players. I can think of Oriol Romeu and Fraser Forster; they were guys who knew a lot about the Premier League. The league demands a lot of experience, energy, and when you change the manager three times, it was tough for players to have stability and consistency.”
Perraud describes James Ward-Prowse as the best player he has played with “for sure”, and reminisces about the victories home and away against Chelsea as among his standout career moments.
“Even though I was sad after relegation, I enjoyed all of my time at Southampton. From the bottom of my heart, I want to say thank you to the fans and to the organisation that gave me this opportunity to play for this badge. I have nothing more to say other than I loved my time at Southampton.”
And with that, Perraud prepares for life in Spain, Pellegrini’s Betis and becoming one of the departed players from Southampton’s closed chapter.
(CRISTINA QUICLER/AFP via Getty Images)
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