Ross Stewart isn’t the only former striker who could come back to bite Southampton

With less than a month now until the summer transfer window slams shut, clubs in the EFL, and in the glitz and glamour of the Premier League, look to be speeding up their business.

Indeed, it appears Fulham have finally been able to win the coveted services of Shea Charles from Southampton, with Charles in advanced talks to leave St Mary's behind for Craven Cottage in a bumper £25m deal.

Heading back down to the Championship, there's plenty of intriguing transfer activity also occurring, with Ross Stewart close to finding himself a new club in the second tier, after walking out on the Saints this summer.

Swansea City looks set to be his next destination, and he will be raring to hit the ground running in Wales to haunt his former employers.

Stewart will be eager to impress from the start

Southampton fans would have been gutted when the news filtered through that the Scotsman had failed to agree extended terms.

From only 12 starts last campaign in the Championship, Stewart bagged a terrifying nine goals. He is the dictionary definition of a poacher, and on his day, is viewed as one of the most potent marksmen in the entire division.

He does have concerning injury issues, but when he's fit and firing, he's an outrageous second-in-command option to depend on.

Swansea are building quite the team this off-season, with the likes of Elijah Just also joining in attack, after a superb 2026 World Cup with New Zealand, meaning the Swans could be direct promotion rivals for Southampton to be wary of.

While the 30-year-old will be grateful for the patience that was extended to him on the South Coast when he was constantly in the treatment room, he will not be showing any mercy when the teams face off against each other in September.

He has a knack, too, for starting at a new club at a red-hot pace, with the Scotland number 14 scoring on his debut for Sunderland in 2021.

When first making the move to St. Mary's, he would initially struggle, but his blistering form towards the latter stages of last campaign make him a shrewd pick-up by the Swans, as Southampton continue cursing their luck that they didn't tie down their Irvine-born forward when they had the chance.

Stewart, amazingly, isn't the only former attacker ready to bite the Saints this coming season...

He isn't the only ex-striker ready to bite the Saints

While Vitor Matos' men have added another striker to their ranks, Eckert and Co. are still on the hunt for a back-up attacker to Cyle Larin, with links to Ivan Azon seemingly going cold.

If they could turn back time now, they'd have handed Dom Ballard the first team chances he craved, so they didn't have to delve into the market, as he has blossomed into a devastatingly efficient finisher, away from his boyhood club, with Leyton Orient.

On the books of the O's last season in League One, Ballard would grab a clinical 23 goals, which has resulted in him finding a path back to the Championship with Bristol City, only a year on from his sad South Coast exit.

Southampton cannot hide from Ballard's clear goalscoring prowess any longer, with a difference in league last season blocking him from view, with September also seeing the 21-year-old go up against his ex-team with Michael Skubala's Robins.

Noted as a "special player" by BBC Radio London's Leyton Orient commentator Dave Victor when the news broke of his move to Ashton Gate, he would love to be the hard-to-contain forward presence that helps the Bristol giants break into the Premier League for the first ever time.

Southampton have been put through the wringer with their recent mistakes in the forward line, with both Stewart and Ballard agonisingly chucked to one side.

But, they do have Larin, still, and there's still time left in the unpredictable market for Eckert's men to steal their own headlines with an eye-catching attacking signing, to boost their short striker numbers.

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