Southampton: Saints learn when their 2020/21 season will start

It has been announced that the 2020/21 Premier League season will start on the weekend of Saturday 12th September 2020.

The Coronavirus pandemic has caused the conclusion of the 2019/20 campaign to be pushed back to this Sunday – the 26th July 2020 – and means that the next season will be pushed back to start in September rather than August.

It will, however, end in May like it was supposed to.

The delays that have been seen in this domestic calendar have caused a backup of fixtures and will now mean just seven weeks of pre-season for teams.

Saints have really benefited from a small break in 2019/20 and then a quick return to action that has seen them able to perform to very high levels during the run in.

Hopefully for Ralph Hasenhuttl, his players and the Saints fans, the small gap will enable them to continue to perfect their style of play.

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They have really worried some top teams in the last month with their high-pressing football in a 4-2-2-2 system and look to be only a few quality signings away from a consistent charge towards the top half of the table.

There have been strong rumours and reports of upcoming transfer deals that Saints could announce soon. Mohammed Salisu has reportedly signed a four-year contract (via AS) and is due to be confirmed as the first summer arrival at St Mary’s soon.

Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg is almost certain to move on before next season and is close to agreeing a move to either Everton or Spurs.

Delays that have come about because of the Coronavirus outbreak will also see the transfer window changed from its normal time-frame.

The Premier League announced recently that it will open on July 27th and close on October 5th, meaning that clubs have 10 weeks to complete their activity in preparation.

Financial strains have also been brought on by what has happened so it is probably realistic to expect less money to be spend by clubs overall.