Report confirms Southampton will sign Romain Perraud in July

A report from France has confirmed that Southampton will confirm the signing left-back Romain Perraud from Stade Brest in early July.

Today’s edition of L’Equipe (18th June 2021, pg 23) confirms that the 23-year-old will be joining Saints at the beginning of next month.

Interestingly, the report also states that Saints will be deciding whether to let their new man join up with the France squad to take part in the Tokyo Olympics. L’Equipe state that many French players are not keen and will be wanting a full pre-season with their clubs

It seems as though Saints will be pursuing another full-back signing, with strong links to Junior Firpo recently.

Southampton to confirm first signing of an active summer transfer window

Along with at least two full-back signings, there is a strong chance that more transfer activity will be seen by Saints before their 2021/22 season gets underway.

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• Grading the Southampton Transfer Window Part 1: Departures
• It’s time to talk about Gavin Bazunu
• Rain clouds on the horizon? Southampton beat Plymouth Argyle
• A lament for Southampton legend James Ward-Prowse

Depth can be added in multiple positions in the squad if the club feel they need to – especially after the injury problems that saw a real slump in form during the last campaign.

Things look pretty set at centre-back with four good options for Ralph Hasenhuttl to choose from if no one from that department leaves.

Central-midfield also has three to four players and is an area that may not be prioritised this summer. Things start to get more interesting when we look at what is happening at striker, in the number 10 positions and in the goalkeeping department.

The future of Danny Ings is still very much up in the air and he could decide to leave if an offer comes his way from a top-six club. Shane Long and Michael Obafemi may also be options to leave on loan or permanent deals.

Creativity is needed behind the strikers and Stuart Armstrong and Theo Walcott were key in the early part of 2020/21. Behind them though, things may be switched up to provide more quality from the bench.

Fraser Forster and Alex McCarthy look set to battle it out to be the first-choice goalkeeper but Harry Lewis has been linked with a loan move away. This could see Saints pursue a deal for a young player to fill in as third-choice and develop for the future.