Romeu reflects on special return
Oriol Romeu spoke of his gratitude to the Southampton fans after making a special return to the club, adding his belief that there is plenty he can offer both on and off the pitch at St Mary's.
The midfielder signed for Saints this week following a three-year absence, rekindling a wonderful relationship with both the club itself and the fans.
"The fact that I'm coming back probably speaks by itself," said Romeu, who had spells with both Girona and Barcelona after his initial seven-year stay with Southampton ended in 2022. "I was happy here. I enjoyed my period at the club. I grew as a player and as a person. It made me more mature in all aspects of life.
"Now that I've had also another experience back in my home country, being able to come back here, which I also feel like home in a way, it's great. This club has had a real impact in myself. The feeling is, as long as I can, I want to help and I want to be involved because I feel like I owe something to them as well."
On the reception he's had, the 34-year-old added: "I've felt just around the club and even around the city how much respect and love I'm getting. It's special.
"There is nothing else than gratitude to that and also the willingness to give them back that love with good games, with good performances, with professionalism, respect. That's my goal right now, because when you have that reaction from everyone, it just says a lot and you just want to give it back.
"Even when I landed and I came back to the UK, everything just seemed to bring me back some nice memories. Walking back here, a lot of people are still the same. The dressing room has changed a little bit, but the lads look very nice people and there is a very good atmosphere, and I'm sure that will help us achieve our goals.
"It brings your smile back to see players that you've been with before when you shared so many moments, and also with the people around the club. It's great to see them again, it's great to say "Hi" to them, and it's great to share this adventure together again. In all aspects, I feel lucky to be back, and I feel also motivated to push as much as I can."
Romeu believes he still has plenty to offer on the pitch, but also off it as an experienced, senior head.
"As the years go by, you've been in these situations before, and you know how to manage them," he said. "It doesn't matter whether it's Premier League or Championship, and you know how tough it is sometimes when things are not going the way you want it to be.
"I think I can help everyone to more or less keep their heads in the right place, make them value how important it is, the day-to-day basics, and then also bring the right work ethics, work environment. We all want to be very optimistic and demanding from ourselves, and that's something that will help us definitely with the quality we've got to win more games, to get to the places that we want to be, and hopefully be in a position where we can fight for promotion by the end of the season.
"I just want to share my knowledge or experience of things that I've learned from the past to make the place around you a little bit better. If that does help, I'm more than happy.
"In the end, because the players that have been here longer know a little bit more from the mistakes we've made in the past, we can teach the younger ones to say, 'hey, this is probably not working now,' or 'you're doing the right thing there, keep on going,' and this is the type of stuff I think I can also really help with."
