Having been strongly linked with a move to the Saints, Stuart Armstrong could be Southampton’s second signing this summer.
Whilst media speculation has to always be taken with a pinch of salt, rumours linking Celtic’s Stuart Armstong to the Saints have gained some serious traction over the past week.
With the Scotsman’s contract now into it’s last 12 months it’s believed that teams are circling like sharks, with Mauricio Pellegrino’s Southampton leading the chase.
The Scottish champions are seemingly demanding a fee of around £10 million for the midfielder, who’s stock has risen rapidly following another successful campaign in green and white.
But would the 25-year-old be a good fit on the south coast?
Style of play
The main issue with Armstrong as a player is that whilst he is exceptionally talented, his doesn’t quite have a natural position – much like James Ward-Prowse.
The Celtic man plays the majority of his games as a centre-midfield, but his knack for scoring goals and his confidence on the ball see him playing much more attacking than your regular midfielder.
Whilst their ability’s differ greatly an easy comparison would be to Paul Pogba, who’s natural position is as a box-to-box midfielder, but his skillset often sees him drift further forward.
Armstrong, as his name would suggest, boasts some physicality to his play whilst standing at a respectable six-foot tall, meaning he’s no pushover. However he doesn’t possess a Romeu-level of ability to win the ball off opponents, meaning despite occasional deployment there last season, he isn’t really a defensive-midfielder either.
Last season the 25-year-old scored a whopping 15 league goals from midfield as Brendan Rodgers’ side went undefeated in the domestic league. It was his first double-figure tally since he scored 11 in all competitions for Dundee United in 2013/14.
Supporting role/Tactical reshuffle?
Despite Southampton’s record signing being the £16 million spent on Sofiane Boufal, £10 million really isn’t a huge expenditure in today’s market, especially as the news broke just an hour or so ago that Romelu Lukaku would swap Merseyside for Manchester for £75 million.
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In short, there’s no guarantee that Armstrong would be a starter on the south coast, especially as you’d argue he doesn’t have the same technical ability as Dusan Tadic if he was to play in the No. 10 role.
Whilst Tadic’s future is far from confirmed, current odds suggest his future does lie with the Saints.
Therefore if Armstrong was to be a starter in Pellegrino’s plans Southampton would realistically have to shift to a 4-3-3 – which isn’t as bad as it may seem. Having a four-man rotation of Steven Davis, Ward-Prowse, Armstrong and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg with Romeu sitting behind them in a deeper role could potentially work wonders, assuming the speculation behind Jordy Clasie’s future continues.
However if Saints are to set-up in the familar 4-2-3-1 next season it’d be hard to imagine Armstrong being a starter, considering how limited his effect on the game would be in defensive-midfield. Nevertheless he would remain a solid addition to the Saints squad, considering how successful Southampton’s previous signings from Celtic have been.