Southampton have the most expensively assembled squad outside the top six and Everton in the English Premier League. However, the Saints have scored only 9 goals in 11 league games this season and clearly, their options up front have not clicked, leaving them pondering for a new striker who can bang in goals.
It appears now that the owners are ready to axe the strikers for under-performing and will look to use their sales to fund money to bring in new strikers up front.
Here is a look at the possible list of strikers they can get their hands on.
Fernando Torres
The Spanish striker currently plays for his childhood club Atletico Madrid. However, Torres is no stranger to a move to England, having spent the prime years of his footballing career at Liverpool and Chelsea.
He was at the peak of his powers at Liverpool, where he became the world’s most fearsome striker and eventually earned a record transfer to Chelsea. His Chelsea career never took off but the striker did win the coveted Champions League trophy at Stamford Bridge.
He is now striving for game time at Atletico and a move to a club of a smaller stature might earn the 33-year old some regular time on the pitch. In such a case, Southampton would be the perfect foil for him to end his career on a high and the Saints will be hoping that Torres can maybe repeat some of his heroics from his days at Liverpool.
Stevan Jovetic
A career that began with great promise has gotten lost somewhere. Jovetic continued to flourish in his early days at Fiorentina but his move to Manchester City saw the striker’s demotion to the bench for the first time in his career. It affected the player’s morale and confidence.
His City career never really took off and he ended his time there with 11 goals and 6 assists in 44 games. He secured a transfer to French champions Monaco in the summer. However, his time at Monaco has not gone smoothly either with Jovetic frustrated at being reduced to a bench role in the club, despite the French champions losing Kylian Mbappe this season.
He has just played 6 games for the French outfit and come away with a single goal in that time. It will provide a club like Southampton with an ideal opportunity to snap up the frustrated striker. A low-key move might just be the late boost Jovetic needs to kickstart his stagnated career once again.
A Possible Reshuffling Of The Team
Southampton are a team in transition with a new manager in charge. Amongst their current crop of strikers, they have Manolo Gabbiadini, Charlie Austin and Shane Long. Long and Austin have proved their mettle in the league earlier and Gabbiadini was the expensive £15 million forward signed from Italy.
Hence, it would be unwise for the Saints to lose these forwards who have proved their worth in the past on the back of just a few bad games. A better option would be to work things around and build a team that would allow the strikers to be fed better and help them grow in confidence with more chances being created upfront.
