The upcoming January transfer window is going to be vital in terms of signing a striker for Southampton – but the Saints owners’ plans for Ralph Hasenhuttl may be factored into whether they buy one.
That is according to journalist Dean Jones, who was speaking to This is Futbol about the latest news at St Mary’s.
The Saints added the services of Bordeaux striker Sekou Mara to their side this summer for a transfer fee of £11m to work alongside forwards Ché Adams and Adam Armstrong.
Whilst Adams has been able to provide five goals for Hasenhüttl’s side so far this season, both Mara and Armstrong are yet to find the back of the net for the club so far this season, meaning that the south coast side had the third-worst goalscoring record in the Premier League heading into this weekend, scoring just 11 goals prior to their clash against Newcastle United.
And Jones believes that the club will have to go and sign a striker in January to resolve their issues.
He said: “We can see now that recruitment is going to be vital in January, they’ve got to go and get a striker.
“From an ownership point of view, maybe they’re trying to be patient, but maybe at the same time, they’re trying to work out their own strategy and work out if they can trust Hasenhüttl to actually lead them forward.”
TIF Thoughts on Jones’ comments…
We believe that Southampton are in serious danger of being relegated from the top flight if they can’t find a solution to their goalscoring problems – though January may offer the perfect opportunity for the club to splash out on a more proven centre-forward.
We would imagine that the club will have made a decision on Hasenhüttl’s future by the time of the World Cup break in a few weeks, at which point they can plan for a transfer market with or without the Austrian head coach, with the side currently sitting one point and one position above the relegation zone ahead of Sunday’s clash.
Therefore, we agree with Jones and believe that the January transfer window could be absolutely vital to Southampton’s Premier League future.