Promotion hopefuls Southampton have had an excellent season so far but head coach Russell Martin is already looking ahead to the January transfer window to bolster his squad for the second half of the campaign.
An emphatic 5-0 victory for the Saints on Boxing Day against Martin’s former side Swansea City bumped the club up third in the Championship, just five points behind second-place Ipswich Town, who are winless in three league matches.
Furthermore, Southampton are unbeaten in 16 league matches now, having not lost a game since the end of September away at the Riverside Stadium against Middlesbrough which capped off a four-game losing streak.
The longest unbeaten run in the history of England’s second tier is 33 matches, a record held by Reading from the 2005/06 season as Steve Coppell’s side earned promotion to the Premier League. Southampton are still a long way off toppling the Royals.
Nevertheless, Martin’s men will certainly try as the Saints have already turned their attention towards the upcoming January transfer window as a means to add further depth and quality to the first-team squad.
According to TeamTalk, the club on the south coast are set to battle it out with promotion rivals Middlesbrough as well as Stoke City and Preston North End for free agent Matthew Sorinola over the coming weeks, who is currently valued at £650k, as per Transfermarkt.
The former MK Dons youngster most recently spent last season with Martin at Swansea on loan from Belgian title contenders Union Saint-Gilloise but was made redundant upon returning as his contract was not renewed.
Matthew Sorinola 2020-21
New Swansea signing. Was efficient both ways for MK & could play either LWB or RWB and is right footed. If playing left I’d have concerns if we had a right footer at LCB meaning no lefties on the pitch. However, v good signing – on a temporary basis. pic.twitter.com/pp6cCcJCQD
— ForeseeaBall (@ForeseeaBall) July 3, 2022
Southampton and Middlesbrough don’t even have to wait until January to sign Sorinola either as free agents can be acquired outside the transfer window and the 22-year-old could provide excellent cover for Kyle Walker-Peters and Ryan Manning on either side of the defence.
Writer’s View
Sorinola has worked with Martin before so the head coach knows the abilities and drawbacks of the player better than anyone. If he believes Sorinola is good enough to play for a team pushing for Premier League promotion, then the club should make it happen.
However, it’s unlikely that the Englishman will permanently displace Walker-Peters or Manning but could still provide adequate cover from off the bench during certain games.
Be the first to comment