Southampton look very light in the forward areas with less than two weeks until Russell Martin takes his side to Newcastle United for the first game of the season.
Russell Martin will know that he is set for a frantic month, balancing Southampton‘s first three fixtures of the Premier League season with the final weeks of the summer transfer window.
It has already been a busy summer, with Southampton making eight first-team signings and playing five friendlies; four of which they have won.
All but one of the eight arrivals have featured in pre-season so far, with Adam Lallana the only player yet to be involved.
The 36-year-old pulled out of the first friendly of the summer against Eastleigh after complaining of muscle tightness in the warm-up but, worryingly, has not been seen since.
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He is not the injury concern in the squad, though.
Russell Martin explains Ross Stewart lack of Southampton involvement in pre-season
Southampton fans will fear Lallana’s situation could end up being similar to that of Ross Stewart, who signed for £10 million last summer but made just four appearances off the bench in a season blighted by injury.
Stewart arrived at the Saints with an Achilles injury that had kept him out since January 2023 and made his long-awaited debut in November.
However, after just two brief cameos off the bench, Stewart picked up a hamstring injury that would keep him out until the final day of the regular Championship season.
Half-an-hour against West Brom in the first leg of the play-off semi-final followed and is still the last time Stewart featured in any capacity for Southampton.
Saints fans expected Stewart to play a big part in pre-season following the summer break but have so far been left bemused by his lack of involvement.
This is deeply concerning, with many associated with the club starting to wonder if Southampton will ever see a return on their £10 million investment last summer.
Martin has now provided an update on the 27-year-old striker, explaining his absence when asked if Stewart is where he was expected to be at this stage of the summer by saying: “Yeah, definitely. Ross was involved and picked up a little something and now he’s fine.
“I said to you, we need to get him through a couple of weeks of full training first before we can put him on the pitch. Otherwise, we are just risking something. He’s in a good place now.”
Southampton cannot rely rely on Ross Stewart in the Premier League
Even with the arrival of Brereton Diaz, Southampton lack firepower.
Adam Armstrong was the club’s top scorer last season with 24 goals but primarily played from the right, whilst Sekou Mara has repeatedly shown he is not ready to lead the line.
Stewart is very unlikely to be ready for the start of the season and, even if he was, is a complete unknown at this level having played just 17 games in the Championship in his career.
Therefore, the only one of Southampton’s striker that has shown they can score in the top flight is Brereton Diaz, who managed six in 14 games for an incredibly poor Sheffield United side last season.
Even that is an incredibly small sample size, so it is difficult to envisage how Southampton will score enough goals to stay in the top flight without improvements signed in the final third.