Southampton winger Sofiane Boufal training alone after Hughes fallout, linked with Leicester City move

Southampton winger - and former record signing - Sofiane Boufal has been banished to training on his own following a dressing-room bust-up with manager Mark Hughes according to The Sun.

As per The Sun’s report, tempers flared after substitute Boufal refused Hughes’ calls for him to warm up during Saints’ 3-2 home defeat to Chelsea earlier in March.

The alleged incident included Hughes throwing a water bottle across the home changing room while angrily confronting Boufal after the match.

Boufal has not featured in either subsequent squad, not even making the bench for Thursday’s away trip to Leicester City and Sunday’s FA Cup semi-final loss to Chelsea.

The official line from the club was that Boufal was missing from those games due to illness, though it appears that is not the case.

Hughes has hinted at a few negative personalities in Saints’ locker room as the team finds itself locked in a relegation dogfight.

Speaking immediately after the Chelsea league defeat, he said: “I am getting to understand who are the guys who are going to help us and those who are not willing to put their bodies on the line.”

The Moroccan is now being linked with a move away from the club, with Leicester rumoured to be front-runners. It’s an easy link to make, given Foxes manager Claude Puel was the man who signed Boufal for Saints in the first place.