Southampton have confifmed that Cyle Larin is returning for good next season, after a nine-goal loan stint, but they won't be done here with striker additions this summer.
Indeed, the loss of Ross Stewart will still be an unsettling departure, despite the heroic Canadian returning, with the Scotsman a perfect bench option to have at St. Mary's. He proved that in spades last season, with nine goals put away in Championship action, from only 11 starts.
He has opted against signing an extension on the South Coast, however, leaving Southampton's striker ranks uncertain, and the Daily Echo has now suggested which centre-forwards Tonda Eckert's men should look to swoop in for to make his departure less obvious.
Southampton should go after this striker
The Daily Echo have thrown out a whole host of names in this speculative article, including Tottenham Hotspur hotshot Will Lankshear, who is highly rated in North London, and was on the books of Oxford United last season in the second tier.
The worry here would be that Lankshear isn't anywhere near as potent as Stewart in the EFL, with 11 goals on loan at the U's and West Bromwich Albion previously, looking weak next to the Irvine-born marksman's weightier tally of 44 strikes, plying his trade in both the Championship and League One.
The suggestion that stuck out the most to me was Richard Kone's, with the Ivorian, much like Stewart, first cutting his teeth in the English game in League One, before going on to solidify his presence as a free-flowing goalscorer in the demanding second tier.
The ex-League One Player of the Season award winner would surely jump at the chance to leave Queens Park Rangers behind for the South Coast if an advance was made, with Kone's next division that he needs to tick off the promised land of the Premier League.
He's a perfect Stewart replacement
Much like Stewart, who is now at the World Cup with Steve Clarke's Scotland, Kone's reputation for being a red-hot goalscorer up and down the many EFL leagues has seen him gain international recognition, with the 22-year-old a one-time Ivory Coast international.
That one-off cap came his way last November, after he had instantly settled into his Loftus Road environment, with four Championship strikes confidently falling into his back pocket, from his first eight R's outings.
In total last season, the bulldozing 6-foot-1 striker would help himself to 11 strikes in all competitions, the same tally Stewart hit.
Kolli 🤝 Kaddie 🤝 Kone pic.twitter.com/6hhQaS2Flr
— QPR FC (@QPR) January 12, 2026
Bagging 21 goals in League One as well, when still on the roster of Wycombe Wanderers, which is only five behind Stewart's own count for Sunderland in the tricky league, the hope will be, if Southampton do take a punt on Kone, that he can match the Scotsman's levels on the South Coast.
He operates very much in the same way as the 29-year-old, with Kone only amassing 34 touches per League One clash during his swansong Chairboys campaign, yet he still managed to put away a lethal 18 goals.
Stewart only needed an average of 16.9 touches to cause the havoc he did last campaign, with both attackers content to let the game flow, before enacting damage.
Also very much a team player like his injury-prone counterpart, with seven big chances created for QPR last season in league action, it does feel as if it could be an inspired swoop if pulled off, to ensure the loss of Stewart doesn't linger.
It could take a sizeable amount to tempt the R's into parting ways, with crazy claims from some QPR pundits that he is worth around the £10m mark, with Southampton having plenty of other targets written up to boost their attacking ranks.
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