Mohammed Salisu, a defender for the Black Stars, is considered one of the best in the league, according to Saints coach Ralph Hasenhuttl.

Along with the rest of the club, the defender struggled toward the end of the 2021/22 campaign as Saints won just one of their final 12 Premier League games.

Salisu and his new partner Armel Bella-Kotchap have both garnered praise for their individual efforts this season, despite the fact that Saints have yet to record a clean sheet in the Premier League.

“I think against the ball he’s one of the best defenders in the league, for sure. With the ball, he has definitely room to improve and he knows this, he has had better games,” Hasenhuttl said.

“The interesting thing is as long as we didn’t build up a lot and keep doing more long balls, he was even better. I think that as soon as we started building up, the mistake growth rate goes up a little bit,”

“So this is something he has to work on. But he did in the past times when he was confident and then he showed how good he can be and I expect him to step up there and getting better,”

“It seems the noise didn’t help him last season. I’m never a friend of praising players too much in the media because it is for only one reason that they get a little bit distracted or think we are not big enough for us anymore,”

“I don’t want to say this happened with Sali, definitely not. But for me it is always much better when we are below the radar, to develop their game and work on their weaknesses as a young player,”

“It is hard because in the Premier League you are always in the window and this is normal. Especially in English football culture, it is about creating the stars and speaking about individuals,”

“This is what makes the Premier League special in some moments as everyone wants to be here but sometimes as a manager it doesn’t make life easier. With some young players, we have to bring them back on the ground a bit in some moments,”

Hasenhuttl also stated that Mohammed Salisu‘s decision to play for the Black Stars of Ghana has lifted his self-confidence.

“He was not keen to play there for a long time but now he wants to play there and I think it is always something special to play for your country,” Hasenhuttl added.

“And this is what should normally lift your self-confidence absolutely. I’ve seen it very often in players that are going to the internationals and coming back like they’ve grown with confidence and this is normally always a positive thing,”

Mohammed Salisu has played nine games this season in the Premier League for Southampton.