Although Southampton are gradually improving their goalscoring form in the Premier League, the Saints have dropped a lot of important points in the league due to their underwhelming finishing in the first few matches. Their inconsistent goalscoring form was expected after the departure of prolific striker Che Adams on a free transfer, who decided to join Serie A side Torino at the beginning of the transfer window.
Thus, Russell Martin’s side considered signing several quality forwards and brought Cameron Archer and Ben Brereton Diaz for a combined £21 million transfer fee. Alongside them, the Saints were also very close to secure the signature of Ipswich Town forward Liam Delap and Corinthians striker Yuri Alberto.
Southampton wanted to sign Chelsea star's £10 million ex-teammate
While the former preferred a move to Ipswich Town instead, Alberto was interested in joining Russell Martin’s side and hasn't ruled out signing for the Saints in the January transfer window. Now, it seems that Southampton also submitted an opening £10 million bid for another Brazilian centre forward. The talented Palmeiras U20 striker is Luighi, who came through the youth ranks at Palmeiras to join their U20 team this year.
The 18-year-old previously played for Palmeiras's U18 side alongside Chelsea's new signing Estevao Willian, and has continued his impressive progress this season as well. Luighi has found the back of the net ten times this season, and his brilliant upward trajectory as a centre forward has seen several Brazil fans draw comparisons with Real Madrid striker Endrick.
Luighi is a similar profile centre forward as 22-year-old striker Cameron Archer, and takes advantage of his clever passes and dribbling to create spaces inside the final third. Southampton forwards Ben Brereton Diaz and Adam Armstrong have largely struggled with their positioning and game awareness inside the box, which are two key areas where Luighi thrives.
On top of that, Luighi's heading ability is also decent which would provide more tactical flexibility to manager Russell Martin in the attack. Despite not having much first-team experience at the age of 18, Luighi possesses a huge potential and can be trained to become one of the best centre forwards in Europe's top five leagues.
Thus, it is highly likely that Southampton will again consider signing a new striker in the January transfer window, if other forwards such as Brereton Diaz, Armstrong and Onuachu don't score more goals during the first half of the season. Now, it remains to be seen whether the Saints will enter into transfer talks with Palmeiras to secure the services of Luighi on a permanent basis or as an initial six-month loan move in January.