Southampton have made no less than three player announcements this morning, with two contract renewals and a signing.
10am
First up, at 10am Saints revealed on Twitter that Sam Gallagher has signed a new 4-year deal with the club.
The 21-year-old striker had a breakthrough season with Blackburn last term, scoring 11 goals and earning five man of the match awards. Gallagher was one of Rovers shining lights in a disastrous season that ended in relegation, and his form has earned him a new deal with his parent club.
With Jay Rodriguez seemingly on his way to West Brom, the former Plymouth Argyle youth will be looking to take his place in this season’s squad. Gallagher said of his new deal:
“It shows the belief that the club have in me and I need to prove that now, which is what I am hoping to do in pre-season.”
11am
Before fans had finished congratulating Gallagher on social media, Saints revealed another former Plymouth youth player had signed a new deal.
At 11am the club announced that Jack Stephens has also signed a new deal. The 23-year-old defied his critics by forming a solid defensive partnership with Maya Yoshida for the second half of last season. Featuring in 17 Premier League matches in the 2016/17 campaign, Stephens stepped up admirably following the departure of Jose Fonte and Virgil van Dijk’s injury.
And now Southampton have reaffirmed their belief in the former England Under-21 international by rewarding him with a five-year contract.
Stephens expressed his delight in extending his stay:
“ feels like home to me. I have really enjoyed my time here and am now looking forward to the next five years.”
12pm
The morning was drawing to a close, but Southampton still had one more surprise for fans.
At midday the much-rumoured signing of Poland under-21 captain Jan Bednarek was made official.
Southampton scouts were reportedly in Poland to watch Bednarek in the European Under-21 Championship last month. And although he didn’t have the best of tournaments, the Saints contingent obviously saw enough to warrant the reported £5.7m fee.
The former Lech Poznan defender has stated that his motivation for choosing Southampton over a host of other suitors is that “young players are getting the chance here and can improve themselves.”
Bednarek made 34 appearances for Poznan last season, helping them to a third place finish and the Polish Cup final.
Saints fans will now be intrigued to see if further changes in the defensive ranks occur during the transfer window. As it stands Southampton’s first team central defenders are Virgil van Dijk, Jack Stephens, Maya Yoshida and Jan Bednarek.
Whether that will be the case on 12th August is still the subject of much debate.