Southampton loans former record signing Boufal to Celta Vigo

Things haven't gone too well for Sofiane Boufal on the south coast.

Southampton announced on Friday that it has allowed its former record signing to join La Liga side Celta Vigo on a season-long loan.

The decision is a damning indictment of the Morocco attacker's time at St. Mary's just two years after he joined the Saints for a then-club-record fee, reportedly worth an initial £17 million. That figure was touted to rise as high as £21 million based on performance-related bonuses, and the silver lining for Southampton is that it probably hasn't had to pay much of the difference.

Boufal only registered his first single-season double-digit goals tally in his final campaign with French club Lille before Saints splashed out riskily to sign him in 2016. In the two years since then, the 24-year-old has hit the net three times in 50 Premier League games. One of those, a solo stunner against relegated West Bromwich Albion back in October, was voted the Premier League goal of the season for 2017-18.

However, during the latter months of the campaign, he fell out with new manager Mark Hughes and was sent to train with the club's under-23 squad, and it appears his time may be up - at least under the Welsh boss - despite having three years remaining on his deal.