The January transfer window might be months away, but that hasn’t stopped Southampton from being linked with one of the most interesting names in European football.
CalcioMercato report that the Saints are interested in KRC Genk striker Mbwana Samatta, with the article stating that Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side sees the striker as ‘a new idea for the attack’.
As numbers from Transfermarkt show, the 26-year-old attacker has been in inspired form over the past 12 months for the reigning Belgian champions, with Samatta last season scoring an incredible 32 goals in all competitions for Genk.
And the Tanzanian international has continued this rich vein of form into this campaign with six goals in nine games as numbers from Transfermarkt show, including a strike in the Champions League group stages against RB Salzburg.
Southampton have been somewhat impressive this season, with Ralph Hasenhuttl continuing his rebuild of the south coast side, yet one thing the Saints have struggled with so far this season in the Premier League is goals.
A look at the Premier League table shows that the south coast side have been poor in front of goal, with Southampton scoring just six goals in their opening six league games of the season, with only five teams scoring fewer so far than the Saints.
And the positions of the goalscorers for Southampton this season have been fairly scattered as numbers from Transfermarkt show, with Moussa Djenepo and Nathan Redmond, both wingers, scoring half of the Saints’ goals, whilst defender Jannik Vestergaard has managed to find his way onto the scoresheet against Manchester United.
With Che Adams and Danny Ings only managing a goal between them so far this year, a move for Samatta, who is valued on Transfermarkt at £10.8m, seemingly makes sense for Southampton if they continue to struggle for goals and if the Genk attacker’s impressive form carries on until the January transfer window.
