Welcome to Overtime’s Winter Transfer Solutions for the 2022 January transfer window. Our club reporters will use the latest statistics to suggest two key players each club should break the bank for. Benjamin Wyatt looks at Southampton below.
Goalkeeper
So we’ll start of between the sticks in which Alex McCarthy is seen to be the Saint’s number one, however recently has been dropped in replace of Fraser Forster after a number of below par performances. As a result I think it’s necessary that the south coast club look to bring in a solid number one. I think they should look no further than Nice’s Walter Benitez, who is in the top five for most prevented goals in Europe’s top five leagues this season (3.34).
This season he also boasts a save percentage of 77.22% which is a big increase to McCarthy’s 65%, and in fact Benitez’s save percentage is better than the likes of Ederson (Manchester City) and Neuer (Bayern Munich). Southampton are a team that like to get the ball down and play football as result a keeper with good passing is vital as that’s where the play begins, with Benitez’s pass accuracy of 68.03% again is a big jump from McCarthy’s 56.17%. The 28 year old has 18 months left on his current contract at Nice, so an offer within the region of 15 million may tempt the French outfit to part ways with him.
Winger
I don’t feel the Saint’s have enough goals in the wide areas of the pitch so in that case I’m looking to replace Nathan Redmond with Feyenoord’s Luis Sinisterra who applies his trade more often from the left.
The tricky Colombian has been involved in 10 goals this season (7 goals, 3 assists) in 16 league games compared to Redmond’s 4 (all assists) in 18 league games. I feel Redmond’s main flaw is his braveness when it comes to shooting with him only averaging 1.3 shots per game, this more than doubles with Sinisterra who manages on average 2.8 shots per game. Another improvement that he’d bring is his directness with him having a take on success percentage of 72.73% compared to Redmond’s 58.06% which highlights Redmond’s inability to beat his man and advance Saints when attacking so this is something that Sinisterra will be able to do on a more regular basis. 20 million would be a wise price to begin negotiation’s for the new Southampton owners in which they would not only be investing in the player that he is now but the player that he can become with him still only being 22 with lots of time for development.
So that was my Winter Transfer Solutions for Southampton, these are not rumours or deals that are ongoing but instead just my take on where I think they could improve and who could potentially fill the gap in place whilst taking a realistic approach to the potential signings that I choose.
