The transfer window is fast approaching and Southampton will be looking at what they can do to improve their squad in January to put them in the best possible position for the rest of the season.
Southampton are sailing along nicely in the Championship, with their current unbeaten run of 15 consecutive games the longest run of any team in England’s top four divisions, but that does not mean they won’t be assessing the market ahead of the transfer window.
Given that Russell Martin recently revealed that summer signing Ross Stewart is likely to be out for the rest of the season and the potential impact of the upcoming African Cup of Nations on availability, Southampton may have a busier January that they may have anticipated.
One area that Southampton are expected to target is right wing, with Adam Armstrong the player usually deployed wide on the right despite naturally being a striker. This is because the Saints did not replace Nathan Tella in the summer, with the 24-year-old signing for German giants Bayer Leverkusen for £20 million.
Could Amad Diallo be the Nathan Tella replacement?
Southampton did sign a winger in the summer, as they secured the services of the experienced Ryan Fraser on a season-long loan from Newcastle United, however the Scotland international was never intended to be the Tella replacement.
Instead, Southampton pursued Sunderland’s Patrick Roberts but the former Manchester City winger has recently committed his future to the Black Cats by signing a new contract and looks unlikely to move. Southampton may look for a former teammate of Roberts’ to plug the gap filled by Tella, as reports suggest Southampton are keen to sign last season’s Sunderland loanee Amad Diallo on loan from Manchester United in January.
United spent £23 million to take an 18-year-old Diallo to Manchester from Atalanta in January 2021 and the Ivorian spent last season on loan at Sunderland where he won the PFA Championship Fans’ Player of the Year award, scoring 13 league goals and providing three assists.
Diallo was labelled ‘incredible’ by teammate Luke O’Nien in his time at the club and returned to United ahead of this season. Southampton were initially interested in signing the 21-year-old winger in the summer but cooled their interest after Diallo picked up a knee injury in pre-season.
Diallo is highly-rated at Old Trafford, but now that he has returned from injury the Manchester club want the youngster to play regular football and this is something they cannot currently offer. Therefore, the club are thought to be willing to allow Diallo to leave on loan in January and Southampton are considered a likely destination.
This would be a great signing for the Saints as they look to mount a real promotion push in the second half of the season. Diallo represents a wide player with a real eye for goal, as demonstrated by his 13 Championship goals last season, and he is a tricky player that creates opportunities for his teammates.
With Stewart’s injury and Che Adams likely to leave in January, the temporary signing of a real talent like Diallo could take some of the goalscoring burden off of the much-improved Adam Armstrong, whose current tally of 12 Championship goals and seven assists making him the only consistent contributor at Southampton.
Diallo will likely be interested in the prospect of being a key man in the Championship again and it represents low risk for all parties given the deal would be a six-month loan.