Sofiane Boufal would have gone to Paris Saint-Germain and not become Southampton's record signing had Laurent Blanc stayed in charge of the Ligue 1 champions, his agent has said.
Boufal, 22, joined Southampton from Lille in the summer for a reported fee of around £16 million, but agent Yvan Le Mee told SFR Sport the attacking midfielder would have done things differently had Blanc remained.
"We spoke to PSG," he said. "If Laurent had stayed at PSG he would have gone to PSG, because things would have happened quickly."
The runaway champions were not the only club keen to sign Boufal after a dazzling 18 months at Lille saw him score 14 goals in 43 top-flight appearances.
"We also had Arsenal, who -- when they lost out on Mahrez -- came back to us, but it didn't happen. We had Spurs," Le Mee said.
Y. Le Mée : "SI Laurent Blanc était resté au @PSG_inside, Boufal aurait sûrement signé !" #LeVestiaire pic.twitter.com/jmMRajq1yn
- SFR Sport (@SFR_Sport) 8 September 2016
"We had Chelsea, but though the club wanted to advance, [coach Antonio] Conte wasn't too keen. It's the job of the agent to say: 'Wait -- the coach isn't as enthusiastic as the club. You shouldn't do it.'"
Le Mee said a move to Stamford Bridge would have been "taking a risk" and added: "He's coming back from injury, you're going to the Premier League, so you go to a club where you'll play, to a club that's used to bringing through young players [Southampton] and then eventually you go to those big clubs. They have sold 14 players to Liverpool, United and Chelsea."
He said the arrival of Claude Puel as Saints coach had also played a role given the similarities between Boufal and Hatem Ben Arfa, who flourished under Puel at Nice last season.
"He just happens to be with a French coach who did good things with Ben Arfa last season," he said.
"[Ronald] Koeman left, the club still wanted the player. The new coach came in and he also wanted the player. We're not daft -- we analysed all of that."