Peretz hails idol's influence
New Southampton goalkeeper Daniel Peretz spoke of the influence of training alongside his childhood hero after putting pen to paper on a loan deal at St Mary’s.
The 25-year-old hopes to help Saints push towards the Sky Bet Championship promotion places having signed for the remainder of the season from European giants Bayern Munich.
Peretz joined Bayern in 2023 and spent two years training alongside Manuel Neuer, the goalkeeper he considers the greatest in history, giving him a unique education from an iconic figure in German football.
“I’ve said in a lot in a lot of interviews that he was my role model since I started playing football,” Peretz said.
“When I was 10 I started to watch his YouTube clips and every game of him – every save, every pass. I had posters of him in my room!
“At 23 I was signing for Bayern Munich and I got to know him. For me he is the greatest of all time, but he’s an even better person and better character, and he welcomed me amazingly.
“From the first day he made me feel at home. He also gave me a lot of tips, and just from looking at him, with the way he behaves outside of the pitch, on the pitch, some habits he has, his mentality – you can learn so much just from being with him.”
As for his own style, Peretz added: “I think I am really balanced in my goalkeeper type. I really like to play with my feet and help my team, I like to be aggressive on crosses and to defend the space.
“I don’t want to speak too much before – I want to show it on the pitch from the first day.”
On his goals for the rest of the season, Peretz firmly believes promotion to the Premier League is a realistic target.
“I think it’s a Premier League club, and our goal is to get it back to where it belongs,” he said. “It will not be easy, but we are here to do it, to work hard, to believe. I think it’s important that we work every day to achieve it.
“I just want to go from game to game, to improve myself, to get better with the team. You never know in the future how things will happen, but I think both of us are a really good match for the rest of the season.”
A limited number of Men's Half Season Tickets are now available. Don't miss a minute of the action across the second half of the season, beginning with the visit of Hull City to St Mary's in January, with prices starting from around £21 per match.
