Southampton’s club-record signing made his first start of the season on Saturday afternoon and grabbed two assists as Leeds United were beaten 3-1 at St Mary’s
Russell Martin says Kamaldeen Sulemana has an “incredible opportunity” to improve and become a leading figure at Southampton this season.
The 21-year-old Ghanaian international started his first game of the season on Saturday and was in excellent form as he laid on two assists for his teammates in a 3-1 home win over Leeds United at St Mary’s
Southampton spent a club-record £22million to sign Kamaldeen from French side Rennes in January and subsequently managed to keep hold of him over the summer despite significant interest from the Premier League and abroad.
Martin admits that neither he or Sulemana expected the Ghanaian to be playing in the Championship this season, but he told reporters on Monday just how thrilled he was to have such a talented individual in his team ahead of Tuesday night’s clash with Stoke City
He’s been really great with us since he’s come back on the training pitch,” said Martin. “I think he understands what we want from him now. He has clarity on what we expect on the pitch and what we expect of it, in terms of how he is. The first time I ever spoke to Kamaldeen when I first took this job was on the phone.
“I was really impressed by how intelligent he is and how much he thinks about the game. At that point, I am pretty sure that both of us didn’t expect him to be here. I’m really grateful that he is and we are really lucky that he is.