Southampton should sell goal-shy striker if reported price is right – opinion

Sheffield United have moved ahead of their steel-city rivals in the pursuit of Southampton striker Charlie Austin, according to a report in The Star.

It suggests the Premier League new boys want to add more options in attack and a player with plenty of experience in the top-flight could be exactly what they are after. The report also suggests they could face competition from Aston Villa for his signature.

Sky Sports News have reported that The Blades have enquired about the availability of the 29-year-old while claiming the Saints would accept a fee of £10million for the former Burnley forward.

At that figure, I think Southampton should bite their hands off. The attacker only has one year remaining on his contract and at this point, it appears unlikely the club will extend his deal. If the club has no intention of keeping him at St Mary’s for the long-term then they may as well cash in on him this summer.

WhoScored.com have compared the three Southampton strikers – Austin, Shane Long and Danny Ings. Austin was rated the worst of the trio. For shots per game, he was actually in the middle with 1.3 while Long has 1.2 and Ings was far in front with 2.3.

However, no matter how many shots he gets off, he clearly is not accurate enough. In 25 league matches last season he only managed to score two goals, which is not great for a striker.

Those figures show the 29-year-old is the worst performer on the pitch, but when considering transfers, the financial benefit or drawback is also a factor. He is valued by Transfermarkt at £7.2 million, so receiving above that would be great for a 29-year-old with just one year remaining on his deal.  T

If Southampton could move him on then the money could be spent on more efficient players.