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Southampton: Saints re-ignite interest in Celtic’s Stuart Armstrong

By Chris Hughes

GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - DECEMBER 30: Stuart Armstrong of Celtic arrives at the stadium prior to the Scottish Premier League match between Celtic and Ranger at Celtic Park on December 30, 2017 in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - DECEMBER 30: Stuart Armstrong of Celtic arrives at the stadium prior to the Scottish Premier League match between Celtic and Ranger at Celtic Park on December 30, 2017 in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images) /
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In a quest for fresh talent this January, Southampton have found themselves linked with an old target in Celtic midfielder Stuart Armstrong.

The Scottish international was linked with the Saints for most of last summer, before signing a new, two-year deal with the Scottish champions in August, ending any speculation of a potential departure.

However Southampton are reportedly back in for the man, who is still valued at a modest £10 million.

Armstrong however has failed to hit the same heights as he did last campaign under Brendan Rodgers, where he scored 17 goals from midfield in all competitions. This season he has just two from 21 league appearances.

Nonetheless he is still a well-rounded utility player and with Steven Davis struggling for solid form, the Saints could do with reinforcements in the middle of the park.

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The Scotsman has a fierce shot on him from distance and would join a long string of successive signings the Saints have made from across the boarder.

Whilst Fraser Forster and Steven Davis have enjoyed more mixed success as of late, both Victor Wanyama and Virgil van Dijk went on to bigger and better things after proving their worth with the Saints.

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The only glaring issue with the cut-price deal would be where the 25-year-old would fit in at the club. Oriol Romeu, Mario Lemina and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg have all enjoyed decent campaigns and Davis himself has hardly been a total burden. Unless one of them are sold, it seems unusual to bring in another.

What’s more, Armstrong has never been strong on defense and is much more natural as either as centre-mid in 4-3-3 or as a #10. With relegation a very realistic possibility Southampton supporters would surely want a more ambitious signing if he was to replace Dusan Tadic just behind the striker.

At the end of the day however it’s nice to see the Saints linked with a plethora of talent. Guido Carillo, Denis Suarez and Theo Walcott are all names bounced about in the last 24 hours alone.

Now though, deals have to be completed.

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