Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl has revealed he is yet to decide whether Kyle Walker-Peters’ loan stay at St Mary’s will be made permanent.
Walker-Peters left Tottenham for Southampton in search of more game time in the January transfer window. His progress has been interrupted by injury and the coronavirus-induced break, but the right-back made it off the bench in the Saints’ 2-0 defeat to Arsenal on Thursday.
Despite impressing when given chances by Mauricio Pochettino, first-team opportunities were all too rare for Walker-Peters under the previous regime – and that didn’t change when Jose Mourinho came in last November.
But despite playing more regularly since moving to Southampton, Walker-Peters’ future on the south coast is still uncertain according to Hasenhuttl.
Asked if Walker-Peters has earned a permanent deal, Hassenhuttl told the Southern Daily Echo: “I’ve not decided yet.
“He will stay with us to the end of the season with us and we have now 8 games in the short term so it’s quite likely he can start one game or two games or whatever.
“It’s important that we trust every player who is with us and I do this – and when he gets the chance he will make a good game.”
It doesn’t sound like Walker-Peters has done enough to be a guaranteed starter for Southampton, but that could change if he makes an impact in the next couple of games.
Regardless of whether the south coast outfit tries to buy the 23-year-old this summer, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him leave – either for Southampton or another club.
