Only two Championship clubs made more cash in the summer window than Southampton

Having sold their PFA Championship Team of the Year defender, Taylor Harwood-Bellis, to Villa at the end of the window for £25m plus add-ons, the Saints took their summer transfer window income to around £55m.

Tonda Eckert will hand in a teamsheet at Sincil Bank on Saturday lunchtime, which could feature a new centre-back partnership of Abbott and Schlotterbeck, who could be considered an upgrade on Harwood-Bellis and Jack Stephens. Only time will tell, and there is no doubt that both Stephens and Nathan Wood will have a considerable impact as the season goes on.

The Harwood-Bellis money goes a long way to ensuring the club doesn't fall foul of squad cost rules (SCR), which cap spending at 85% of total income revenue on football-related costs such as agent fees, transfer fees, and wages.

The Harwood-Bellis money

Sky's analysis of the summer transfer window left Southampton placed third in the division for net profit, behind only West Ham United and Burnley.

That's some company. Both are clubs that came down from the Premier League in May, carrying Premier League contracts for players who wanted out, and then Southampton, who should have been travelling in the opposite direction, losing a play-off final place inside a committee room.

The signing that illustrates just how financially positive the window was cost £800,000.

The signing (re-signing) of James Ward-Prowse may prove to be one of the shrewdest investments in Championship history; one that could ensure the club are in the automatic promotion conversation again in May.

Keven Schlotterbeck looks an absolute steal at £3.8m. Since arriving from Augsburg, the German has looked solid in the 5-1 thumping of Millwall and headed one in at Birmingham.

The back four at Sincil Bank

So what difference does all that profit make on a Saturday lunchtime in Lincolnshire?

The answer is quite a bit. Schlotterbeck has shown that he can dominate games at this level and is dangerous at the other end, too. Taylor Harwood-Bellis' goals from set-pieces could soon be eclipsed by the German, especially with the dead-ball quality of Scienza, Manning and Ward-Prowse in the side.

Where this all leaves Nathan Wood is a big question. To be fair to Wood, he has looked very good alongside Schlotterbeck. It has been refreshing to see Wood going forward with his passing and not always sideways and backwards, which he has been inclined to default to in the past.

Jack Stephens will play a patient squad role this season, ready to be called upon when needed.

Nottingham Forest loanee Zach Abbott will be keen to get his name on the teamsheet on Saturday. Eckert has already proven this season that he is inclined to throw a central defender straight in if he feels that will strengthen the side.

Abbott may not have been the first name on Johannes Spors shopping list, and it's hard to see how signing a prospect on loan serves the squad better than sending Joshua Quarshie out on loan. It could be argued that time developing their own player would be better than developing one of Nottingham Forests.

Verdict: Financially, this has been a brilliant window. Spors has strengthened at the back and through the middle of the squad. Up front, the overreliance on Cyle Larin is already obvious and Eckert may be banking on Princewill Ehibhatiomhan to have an incredible breakthrough season.

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