The reason why Southampton should have signed £20 million forward in the transfer window

Ahead of their return to the Premier League, Southampton had a big task to replace outgoing forward Che Adams, who agreed to join Serie A side Torino on a free transfer at the end of last season. The 28-year-old forward was the second highest topscorer for the Saints in the Championship last season, and his athleticism and high-pressing helped Russell Martin's side in winning a lot of ball possession to create a lot of chances going forward. Thus, the Saints entered into the transfer window with a huge priority to bring in a prolific striker for the new season.

While Southampton brought Ben Breteton Diaz and Cameron Archer as new strikers and already had Ross Stewart and Adam Armstrong in their squad, Southampton could have signed a £20 million centre-forward, who has started the new Premier League season in a prolific goalscoring form. The Saints's struggles in front of the goal have been well highlighted this season as Russell Martin's side have only managed to find the back of the net thrice in six league matches. Thus, a large section of the Southampton fans are wondering whether the club should have stepped up their efforts to land the prolific £20 million striker in the summer transfer window.

The reason why Southampton should have signed £20 million forward in the transfer window

The in-form striker is Ipswich Town's 21-year-old centre-forward Liam Delap, who joined Kieran McKenna's newly promoted side from Manchester City in the transfer window for a transfer fee of £20 million and has already scored three goals in six matches. Delap scored his first goal against Fulham this season, helping Ipswich Town take their first point in the league and recently scored a brace against Aston Villa in a masterclass performance to secure a fourth consecutive draw for Kieran McKenna's side. In the summer transfer window, Southampton were also interested in signing Delap and matched Ipswich Town's offer as well, but the latter managed to convince the England U21 international to join them ahead of the new season.

Currently, Tyler Dibling is the only Southampton forward to have scored in the Premier League while Delap's upward trajectory in the recent weeks have helped Ipswich Town gradually gain some momentum in the league. Also, former striker Che Adams is having a brilliant start to the new season at Torino bagging three goals and providing two assists as his new team are currently third in the Serie A after six matches. Missing out on these two quality forwards coupled with the underwhelming performance of the first team forwards in front of goal, has led Southampton to take only one point after six matches.

If Southampton's goalscoring struggles continues in the upcoming matches, the Saints will consider signing a prolific goalscorer in the January transfer window in an attempt to start taking some wins and avoid relegation this season.