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Southampton: Saints deserve credit for finally pressing on

By Chris Hughes

EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND - APRIL 02: Stuart Armstrong of Celtic celebrates scoring his sides third goal during the Ladbrokes Scottish Premiership match between Hearts and Celtic at Tynecastle Stadium on April 2, 2017 in Edinburgh, Scotland. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND - APRIL 02: Stuart Armstrong of Celtic celebrates scoring his sides third goal during the Ladbrokes Scottish Premiership match between Hearts and Celtic at Tynecastle Stadium on April 2, 2017 in Edinburgh, Scotland. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images) /
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After five weeks of pretty much nothing, Southampton seem to finally be getting transfer business done, and we need to give credit where it’s due.

For the first month of the transfer window, the Saints were only ever briefly linked with players – passing rumours which never seemed concrete at the time and never ended up being so.

Southampton were strongly linked with James Maddison about a fortnight ago and apparently even lodged a bid, but the midfielder ultimately chose to move to Leicester for personal reasons.

It seems like the pursuit of the Englishman really set the ball rolling however, as the Saints have completed two signings whilst they are also strongly linked with making another four.

Stuart Armstrong and Mohamed Elyounoussi have already been pictured in the famous red and white, with the former having made his debut yesterday when Southampton drew 3-3 with Schalke in a pre-season friendly.

Next: Saints apparently keen on Joao Mario

SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND – DECEMBER 10: Owner of Southampton Gao Jisheng stands with Chairman Ralph Krueger (L) and head of football development Les Reed (R) during the Premier League match between Southampton and Arsenal at St Mary’s Stadium on December 10, 2017 in Southampton, England. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)
SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND – DECEMBER 10: Owner of Southampton Gao Jisheng stands with Chairman Ralph Krueger (L) and head of football development Les Reed (R) during the Premier League match between Southampton and Arsenal at St Mary’s Stadium on December 10, 2017 in Southampton, England. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images) /

The Saints have apparently bid £10 and £15 million respectively for Barcelona’s Marlon Santos and Manchester City’s Angus Gunn, in a bid to add defensive reinforcements and to replace the out-of-form Fraser Forster.

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Furthermore, Jannik Vestegaard and Andrea Petagna are rumours that simply won’t die down, making you suspect that is some real substance in the two links.

The former plays as a towering centre-back perfect for the middle of a back-three, whilst the latter is a bulky, physical striker who could be the Saints’ long-sough-after target man.

Whilst we’re yet to see these four transfers get over the line, many fans suspected that the Saints wouldn’t conduct business until after the World Cup, as most big clubs tend to avoid making moves whilst the tournament is in full swing.

However, with nine days of the WC remaining, there’s no reason why Southampton may not of completed at least two of the aforementioned transfers, meaning they would’ve completed the majority of their transfer business with weeks remaining before the window slams shut.

As a result, the board do deserve credit for changing their ways – many supporters were furious at the apparent lack of business a few weeks back, but they deserve praise now for finally getting stuck in.