Southampton: Is Mohamed Elyounoussi the perfect January signing?

Yesterday, one Swiss tabloid claimed that Southampton scouts had been in attendance at a Basel game in order to scout Mohamed Elyounoussi – could he be the perfect January signing?

Naturally, every transfer rumour has to be taken with a pinch of salt, as it could all be smoke without fire. That being said, Mario Lemina’s initial links to Southampton over the summer came from a much smaller media outlet before being jumped upon by the bigger papers.

Irregardless the rumour linking Elyounoussi has got fans talking, and signing the winger could be the perfect January move as the Saints look to add more firepower to their roster after an indifferent first half of the season.

Whether it was for a lack of trying, a genuine belief that none were needed or simply not being able to land targets, the Saints failed to recruit a single attacking player over the summer, despite a noticeable attacking regression the season before under Claude Puel.

Southampton are criminally thin in the attacking-midfield area too, with Nathan Redmond and Sofiane Boufal being the only two out-and-out pacey wingers in the whole senior side – Elyounoussi would change that.

Next: Bournemouth 1-1 Southampton: Player ratings

Whilst the Norweigan winger may not have ever played in a ‘top league’, he has been producing good performances since his late teens and already boasts 73 career goals from just 223 games, despite being a winger. For comparison, Nathan Redmond has played 270 games on the dot, and has 30 goals to his name.

More from Saints Marching

The 23-year-old winger is a bag of tricks combined with natural speed and a love of running in behind – some supporters could even compare his playing style to former-Saint Sadio Mane, albeit with a little less pace.

In the Swiss first division this season he has been directly involved in a goal nearly ever game, with four goals and a whopping ten assists from just 15 league appearances so far. Naturally, his stock has started to rise.

Basel only paid a few million for his services last summer, back when he was on the books of Norweigan giants Molde. It’d be wise to suggest that Saints would have to pay at least three or four times the amount the Swiss champions invested in order to get his signature.

But even then, the deal may only cost within the region of £10-12 million, somewhat a bargain in the modern Premier League era. Unlike Boufal, Elyounoussi wouldn’t have the pressure of being a record signing and could bed in quicker.

Furthermore, several fans have cast doubts over his ability through having not heard of him – a fair point. However, how many Southampton fans could truly say they had heard of Sadio Mane before he left Austria’s Red Bull Salzburg to join the Saints?