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Southampton have offered a permanent role to Will Salt, the intern who was caught in the middle of the Spygate scandal.
The youngster was spotted by Middlesbrough filming their training session ahead of the Championship play-off semi-final and, following revelations in Daily Mail Sport, the Saints were eventually thrown out of the competition.
There was considerable sympathy for Salt, who told an EFL panel that he did not have an opportunity to say no and was acting on instructions from those above. And Daily Mail Sport now understands that the 23-year-old has now been offered a role within the club’s academy.
The full extent of Southampton’s subterfuge was exposed in May when the written reasons for the club’s failed appeal against their expulsion was revealed, with the involvement of manager Tonda Eckert laid bare. So too were the club’s attempts to cover up their spying that went beyond the Middlesbrough incident.
Will Salt was spotted at Middlesbrough’s training ground before their Championship play-off
Manager Tonda Eckert apologised for his role in the scandal – but has kept his job at Saints
WhatsApp messages obtained during the EFL investigation reveal how Salt was told, ‘You legend. Manager loved it’ after a spying mission on Oxford United in December.
Eckert’s position came under intense scrutiny and, after he was backed by owner Dragan Solak, released a remarkable eight-minute apology for the scandal.
Eckert said: ‘Hi, Saints supporters. What I’m going to say is not going to be perfect, but I will try to be as honest and clear as I can be.
‘I think you deserve that. For everything that’s happened, I do want to apologise, and I hold my hand up because as a head coach, I am responsible.
‘I am responsible for everything that has happened in this football club. I am responsible for everything that has happened in my coaching staff.’
