Chala sealed a surprise £1m move to Southampton in November last year but failed to find his feet at the Premiership club.

He was the second Ecuadorian to join the club in a week, following Agustin Delgado's similarly fruitless switch.

When they realised his first team chances were severely limited, Saints agreed to loan him to Deportivo Cuenca until the end of the season.

There he has recaptured some of the form with which he impressed in qualifying and should be a certainty for Ecuador's first team.

He can be deployed anywhere in midfield.