€35m transfer reveal shows Southampton FC promotion confidence…
With reports of a €35m transfer deal for Juventus star Matias Soulé, Southampton are clearly confident of securing promotion to the Premier League.
Southampton FC appear to be confident that they will secure promotion back to the Premier League this season, following links with a move for a €35 million star from Juventus in the form of Matias Soulé.
The Saints were relegated from the top flight last season, ending an eleven-year stay in the Premier League that saw some of the top players in the world, like Virgin Van Dijk and Sadio Mané, pass through the club during a successful period in the club’s history.
Despite suffering the heartbreak of relegation last season, Southampton quickly got back on their feet and aimed to return to the top division as quickly as possible, bringing in manager Russel Martin following a spell at Swansea City.
So far they have impressed in the Championship, currently sitting third in the table and challenging Ipswich and Leeds for one of the two automatic promotion spots, below league leaders and fellow relegation-sufferers Leicester City.
With five wins in their last six games, momentum is definitely on the side of the Saints as they embark on a tough second half of the campaign.
While it may be a risk to go all-out for promotion and gamble on the club’s financial future, the Saints must be confident in their chances after being linked with a big-money move for a star from Serie A.
Southampton linked with Matias Soulé.
Southampton have been linked with a move for Matias Soulé this month, with the Juventus star reported to potentially cost them an eye-watering €35m fee.
The 20-year-old has impressed so far while on loan at Frosinone, scoring nine times to become the club’s top scorer in Serie A. This has earned him the interest of the Saints, who are reportedly interested in signing the forward this month.
According to recent reports from CalcioMercato, the South Coast club are lining up a big-money move for the 20-year-old in the January transfer window, adding to their already impressive attack.
The report values Soulé at €35m (around £30 million), a huge transfer fee for the Championship club to pay to secure the Italian’s signature.
He has a contract with Juventus until 2026, although with a clause in his contract for an additional year likely to be activated by his parent club, he is unlikely to be able to move on a cut-priced deal any time soon.
Southampton must be confident of Premier League return.
Not only would this transfer smash the previous transfer record for a Championship club, which was Ruben Neves’ transfer to Wolverhampton Wanderers in 2017 for £15.8 million, but the fee involved would be higher than multiple Premier League clubs’ record transfers.
This move would be a real statement of intent by the Saints. While they do have parachute payments to help with their finances following relegation, there is always a real risk of spending outside their means after dropping into the second division.
£30 million is more than most clubs in the division’s wage budgets for the season, and almost impossible to pay without the promise of Premier League money in the future.
The Saints will be banking on the fact that Soulé can help them return to the top flight with his performances in the second half of the season, or else the club could be in real trouble financially should the deal go through, and they miss out on promotion.
The Saints are looking good for promotion if they can carry on with their impressive form. With a share of £2.5b billion of TV money up for grabs for the teams that go up, winning promotion is the only way they will be able to justify spending £30 million on a player in the second tier; a second year in the Championship, despite parachute payments would eat them alive if they were splashing this type of cash.
Given the transfer chatter, they seem confident in their chances and have the talent to back it up, but with Ipswich and Leeds breathing down their necks, nothing is certain, and moving for Soulé would bring around an element of additional risk to the run-in.
Leave a Reply