Southampton are on the verge of signing Birmingham City striker Che Adams for £14million, according to reports in the Telegraph.
The outlet suggests Burnley are also interested, but the player would prefer a move to the South Coast. The 22-year-old was in brilliant form last season, scoring 22 goals and providing five assists in his 46 league games, according to WhoScored.com. No Saints player got anywhere near that kind of record last season. Looking at the goals scored by the Southampton players last season, the best were Danny Ings and James Ward-Prowse, who both scored seven.
It remains to be seen whether or not the Englishman can make the step-up in levels, and still produce in the Premier League – many players have shone in the Championship but then failed after moving up divisions in the past. Last season Newcastle conducted a loan deal with West Brom because they believed Dwight Gayle was one such player.
That being said, Adams will be in a side that creates chances and prefers to play on the front foot. The old saying goes ‘scoring is the hardest thing in football’, but, that will be exactly what Adams is being bought for.
The Saints struggled with their forwards last season, with Shane Long only netting five times and Charlie Austin only managing to score twice in the league. Ings did better with seven but Nathan Redmond only managed six.
Saints manager Ralph Hasenhuttl has already added to his squad by signing Mali winger Moussa Djenepo from Standard Liege. It is clear Hasenhuttl wants more goals in his team as Djenepo scored 11 goals and provided six assists in the Belgium league last season.
Last season Ings, Austin and Long combined to score 14 league goals and now they must fear their place in the team could be under threat. Southampton finished the last campaign finishing 16th for goals scored and ended up with a -20 goal difference.
As the Austrian manager rebuilds his squad there are early hints that the current attackers at St. Mary’s could be deemed surplus to requirements.
