It’s been a tough start to the 2023/24 season for Southampton, with back-to-back defeats in the Championship leaving them with plenty of food for thought.
It started well for Russell Martin and Southampton. But after back-to-back defeats, with nine goals conceded in those two, the Saints now find themsleves in 9th place of the table.
It came after a fairly busy summer transfer window which saw plenty coming and plenty going at St Mary’s. And as ever with teams eyeing up promotion, the January transfer window could be crucial for Southampton.
Here we look at three summer targets that the Saints should return for in the January transfer window…
Nathan Wood
With the Saints having been leaky at the back this season, a new centre-back could be a January priority, and summer target Nathan Wood could easily come back on Southampton’s radar.
The centre-back was quite heavily linked with a move to St Mary’s last month. But he remains at Swansea City who have started the campaign very poorly.
He’s out of contract next summer but the Swans have the option to extend his stay. January could see them claim a decent fee for the player but if the Swans are still struggling, they may choose to keep Wood once again.
Patrick Roberts
Along with Ross Stewart, it was revealed that Sunderland wide man Patrick Roberts was also a target for the Saints.
He’s in the final year of his contract on Wearside but it’s been reported that Sunderland have tabled a new contract offer for the former Manchester City man.
Though it remains to be seen what the future holds for Roberts; if he’s still not signed a new deal by January then expect him to come back into transfer headlines.
Hamza Choudhury
Hamza Choudhury is another Championship player who was linked with a potential move to Southampton during the summer.
The Leicester City midfielder has featured four times in the league so far this season, but he sees his contract at the King Power expire at the end of the campaign.
TEAMtalk say that the Foxes are set for contract talks with the 25-year-old with clubs keeping tabs on his situation; a swoop for Choudhury would add undoubted steel in the middle of the park.
