Boufal set for Saints debut against Inter

Southampton summer signing Sofiane Boufal is set to make his long-awaited Saints debut Thursday in Europa League play against Inter Milan.

The south coast side announced its 21-man squad Wednesday, and after missing the start of the campaign hampered by a knee concern, Boufal could make his bow against the Serie A side desperate for a continental result.

Boufal, who was not in Claude Puel's squad for Sunday's decisive 3-1 victory over Burnley, made the switch in the summer from Lille for a reported club-record £21-million fee.

Much is expected of the 23-year-old Paris-born attacking midfielder after a meteoric rise from near-obscurity at Angers saw Boufal bag a dozen goals in 34 Ligue 1 matches last campaign for Les Dogues.

Puel, who is familiar with Boufal from his time managing in France with Lille, Lyon, and Nice, will depend upon the Moroccan international to help replace the scoring void left absent with the summer departures of Sadio Mane and Graziano Pelle.

The Saints square off with Inter at the San Siro on Thursday in a tilt with massive implications on Group K. After Frank de Boer's Nerazzurri lost its two opening Europa League matches against Hapoel Be'er Sheva and Sparta Prague, Inter sits bottom, four points adrift of Southampton and the Israeli minnow.