Europa League winning assistant coach Ryan Mason is planning to inflict a transfer blow on Southampton by recruiting Lawrence Shankland.
A couple of weeks ago, Southampton were suggested to be leading the chase for Hearts frontman Lawrence Shankland. Now, both Shankland's age and his free agent status were tempting enough for a Saints transfer but so far, progress has been made at snail's pace.
Think about it, it's not every day that one of English football's in-form strikers is available on a bargain, thus, more delays can cost Southampton dearly.
And one doesn't even need to imagine that scenario, because former Tottenham Hotspurs assistant manager Ryan Mason is plotting an ambitious swoop for Shankland. As per a Scottish Sun report, Mason wishes to start strongly in his West Brom tenure with the Scottish finisher's signature.
Lawrence Shankland slipping away from Southampton's transfer radar
Noticed, carefully? That's West Brom who will be Southampton's Championship rivals next season and should they begin on a strong note, they can even end up mounting a promotion challenge in front of the Saints. Simply put, the same forward Southampton are craving for could be leading their opponent's attack when these two sides meet.
Hence, taking action is the need of the hour if Still has given his green light to acquire Shankland. If not, then that's a different point as the signings phase at St. Mary's was mostly expected to come during the second leg of the transfer window.
Should that be the board's final decision, then other number nine's like William Boving can be handy options for the present and future. And Jay Robinson could even be an outside favourite to deliver his first breakthrough season in the second-division.
Now, attackers are known to generally invoke a massive sense of excitement among the fans, and let's hope that whoever that newcomer is, may end up doing a great job at Southampton.