Southampton are rock bottom of the Premier League currently and look to be sinking straight back to the Championship in a sorry fashion.
Indeed, the depressed Saints find themselves on just five points at the very foot of the difficult division with only one win next to their name and an alarming 12 defeats tallied up.
Looking back, Russell Martin must wonder if the transfer window in the summer could have been approached differently, with various new faces at St. Mary’s failing to settle.
Southampton's 2024 summer transfer window
Not every purchase can be written off as an outright failure, with the likes of Aaron Ramsdale and Taylor Harwood-Bellis standing out in defence for their side, even in spite of their lowly position in the league standings.
Ramsdale has been calm and collected when playing out from the back while Harwood-Bellis’ form has been rewarded with an England debut, a match he just so happened to score in too.
Moreover, the relegation-threatened Saints bringing in the likes of foreign imports Mateus Fernandes and Yukinari Sugawara as transfer gambles have worked somewhat too, with the promising Portuguese midfielder in particular standing out, who is now up to 14 first-team appearances in the Premier League.
Of course, other risks such as bringing in Ben Brereton-Diaz haven’t paid off at all, as the ex-Blackburn Rovers star continues to misfire up top in his new kit with zero goals registered from ten top-flight appearances.
There have also been buys that have underwhelmed to date, with Flynn Downes falling into his category after penning a permanent Saints deal in the summer.
The former West Ham United face was key in the centre of the park for Martin’s men during their unbelievable promotion journey – having been a silky operator with a stunning 93% pass accuracy averaged per Championship clash – but he hasn’t been as noticeably bright for his South Coast side as they battle against the drop.
It likely hasn’t helped the 25-year-old’s situation that he has lacked a consistent partner centrally, with Southampton now left to just curse the fact one ex-Saints star isn’t around to line up next to Downes to give the basement club a sterner figure in the middle.
Former Southampton star perfect for Downes
Southampton supporters would have been rightfully aggrieved when Oriel Romeu walked away from St. Mary’s in the summer of 2022, having been a loyal servant to the Saints for seven whole years after signing for £5m.
In that time, Romeu would notch up a mightily impressive 256 appearances in total, with eight goals and six assists coming his way, alongside praise from ex-Southampton boss Claude Puel in 2017 that boldly compared his game as a holding midfielder to that of Chelsea star N’Golo Kante.
“Kante brings the same qualities as Oriol for us because he’s very consistent and in every game, he gives good performances. Without [Kante] for Chelsea it’s difficult and the same with Romeu, it’s difficult for us without him. I think he’s not far off Kante, he’s an important player for this team because he can do fantastic work to recover the ball and start the play.”
Alongside always putting in above-average performances – much like the Frenchman was renowned for at Stamford Bridge – Romeu was also capable of firing home a stunning strike from nothing like the one below against West Bromwich Albion.
Southampton would grow to rely on their “fantastic” number 6, as he was once labelled by Ralph Hassenhuttl when he was manager on the South Coast, to deliver top displays week in week out, with his exit two years ago then understandably hurting.
Games played
36
Goals scored
2
Assists
2
Big chances created
4
Touches*
58.6
Accurate passes*
38.1 (82%)
Total duels won*
5.5
Looking at the above table from his swansong season in England, it’s evident that Romeu would complement the likes of Downes well if he was still on the books, with the Spaniard equally as calm and composed on the ball as the ex-West Ham man whilst also offering more grit and bite with 5.5 duels won on average.
He hasn’t relented since leaving Southampton either, with Romeu going on to be a hit in his native country for Girona with 11 first-team appearances under his belt this season in La Liga, after also donning a Barcelona strip briefly.
Whilst Romeu gets to enjoy the glitz and glamour of the Champions League with his current employers, Downes will be hoping he can guide his team to safety somehow, with that task looking more and more tricky as defeats begin to stack up.
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