The Ghanaian international has been working his way back to fitness after a muscle injury and Southampton boss Russell Martin says he will be in the squad to face the Foxes

Kamaldeen Sulemana will be back in the Southampton squad for the first time this season when they welcome Leicester City to St Mary’s on Friday night.

The Ghanaian international, who joined Saints in January from Rennes for £22million, has been out of action with a muscle injury for much of the summer but returned to training this month.

The timing is good for manager Russell Martin, who is hoping his squad can bounce back from the 5-0 humbling they received from Sunderland at the Stadium of Light before the September international break.

The Southampton boss has been impressed with what he’s seen from Sulemana so far, with the tricky winger known for pulling off the spectacular both in training and on game days. Former Saints wide man Theo Walcott, who played alongside Sulemana for the second half of last season, recently described the 21-year-old as the fastest player he’s ever played with.

“I love watching him in training,” said Martin. “I really, really love watching him. He’s got so much talent, like an incredible amount of talent. Some of the stuff he does makes me laugh. The other players sometimes roll their eyes in disbelief at some of the stuff he does!

“But we have to make sure he can come onto the pitch and be in a place where we can really trust him and he can trust himself to put in a performance. We’re getting close to that. He’ll be in the squad for tomorrow, which is really positive for us.”

Sulemana was one of several Southampton players expected to leave the club during the summer, with captain James Ward-Prowse, midfield talent Romeo Lavia and full-back Tino Livramento among those sold for big transfer fees.

But despite interest from other clubs, Sulemana stayed put past deadline day, with Southampton unwilling to let the winger leave unless clubs met their asking price.

“I think Kamaldeen was one of the players who probably thought he was going to be in the Premier League or in a top league somewhere because of the amount of interest that was in him,” added Martin.

“But then no club ever came up with the money they needed to to release Kamaldeen from here. So with that and an injury to contend with to get fit, it brings difficulty for a young man.

There’s probably still a few [Southampton players] who are frustrated about the transfer window and the information that they were given by certain people outside of the club and then what actually goes on and they end up staying, but if he [Sulemana] if he is frustrated, he’s been amazing.

 

 

 

“The energy’s been great. He’s a seriously exciting player and he’s got incredible talent. And it’s about getting him fit and into a place where he can really impact games for us and to keep him fit.”

Southampton take on Leicester tomorrow night (Friday) at St Mary’s with a 8pm kick-off time. HampshireLive will be at the game to provide you with all the access you need before, during and after the fixture. Keep up to date using Twitter and Facebook.