Southampton’s Transfer Window Round-Up And Ratings
The hectic and frantic summer window has FINALLY come to a close. Southampton went into this summer needing yet another shape-up after the abysmal season that fans had to endure last season, mustering a miserable total of 12 points, almost breaking the now seemingly unbreakable 11 points that Derby County accumulated in the 2007-08 season. Southampton made 9 signings this summer, spending a reported £55.1m, whilst also loaning/selling 18 players, accumulating a reported £126.6m, with big sales in Tyler Dibling and Mateus Fernandes taking a huge portion of the fees received at around £82m.
Southampton’s director, Johannes Spors, identified the need for more physicality, pace, and power and felt that this was the best way to not only gain promotion but also reaffirm their Premier League status. Looking at sides like Newcastle and Brentford, their squads are exactly those competitions, and they compete at the highest level each year.
Let’s dive into the ratings, starting with a needed addition following the departure of Aaron Ramsdale; however, it’s a signing that will barely play and is just in there as a just-in-case.
George Long
George Long (31) came in from Norwich on a season-long loan to bring experience and depth in the goalkeeper position, with more than 300 appearances in English football. George effectively came in to not play and be there if really necessary as a third GK. Norwich fans seemed pleased to see the back of him for a season, with him having a few comical errors during his time there.
RATING: 4/10
Low rating just because it was never going to be a signing that blew our socks off, and he won’t be much use.
Mads Roerslev
Mads Roerslev (26) joined from Brentford for an undisclosed fee out of nowhere. The signing was made with no rumours, no briefs, nothing, just an announcement from Southampton beating even the great Fabrizio Romano to the transfer, as they alluded to in the video below.
Roerslev will come in as a potential starter and has experience of winning promotion before with Brentford. He will offer much-needed competition in the right-back role, where he has already had two steady performances, with his debut vs Norwich being the better of the two. The Dane is defensively astute and very good at reading the game and will be one of the signings that Southampton fans will look at at the end of the season and be impressed with the business Spors has done here in Roerslev.
RATING: 7/10
Like his performances that he will offer, always a solid 7/10, never less but also never much more. He will be valuable to Will Still in Southampton’s bid for promotion.
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Elias Jelert
Elias Jelert (22) was one of the rumours that occurred on that wild Thursday, where Southampton appeared to agree to deals with four players on the same day. Another Dane, Jelert, comes with Champions League and European top-flight experience from Galatasaray.
As Jelert stated himself, he is capable on both sides as a full-back, where he will likely compete with his fellow Dane Mads Roerslev for the starting right-back position at St Mary’s this season. He made 20 appearances for Galatasaray, so he has experience in a high level of football and can bring that versatility that Southampton lost at the expiry of Kyle Walker-Peters’ contract.
RATING: 7/10
He has an option for around £7m, which isn’t a bad price at all for a player of his quality who will probably become our starting right-back in the future.
Caspar Jander
Caspar Jander (22) arrived after the departure of Mateus Fernandes for a reported £10.5m. He can play as either a 6 or an 8 but also has some excellent off-the-ball qualities.
The German has come with high remarks from his time in the Bundesliga 2 and has been tipped to go on to a high place within football. He will offer some great competition to the already strong Championship partnership of Flynn Downes and Shea Charles. Jander gives us some excellent strength in depth but also system flexibility with the ability to play as a 6 or an 8, where we could line up as a flat three in midfield if Finn Azaz is injured.
RATING: 8/10
Cheap fee for someone who is regarded as a huge talent, especially in Germany, and one that Southampton will inevitably flip and make a huge profit on in the future, as they did with Mateus Fernandes and Romeo Lavia, with all three being bought for around the same fee!
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Finn Azaz
Finn Azaz (24) signed for a reported £14m and certainly offers the creativity that Southampton were in dire need of in the opening gameweeks. The Irishman contributed to 23 goals and 21 assists in his last two Championship seasons, whilst already notching one of each this year, showcasing his quality as a player.
There have been some question marks over his physical ability and whether he is the type of player that can translate to the Premier League. Should Southampton get promoted, or will he end up in a similar situation to Adam Armstrong, where his qualities excel in the league below; however, when tested against Premier League opposition, he seems to go missing? Time will tell.
RATING: 7/10
Another solid addition; however, the only reason for the lower rating is question marks over how he can fare if we step up and if he limits us.
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Joshua Quarshie
Joshua Quarshie (21) arrived at Southampton for a fee in the region of £3m and always had the idea of being that raw young centre-back who would mature into his game at Southampton, which has pretty much been the case thus far. He has shown an excellent recovery pace, which we knew before, with him notching a top speed of 37.04 km/h in the Bundesliga 2 last season. However, there have been sides of naivety and lack of awareness, which will, I’m sure, come as he is played more and gets a good feel for what the league has to offer.
At 21, he has shown enough thus far to convince me he will be a top signing come the future.
RATING: 8/10
As I have just alluded to, he has the potential to go to the top with his pure speed, height, and physicality, which are good enough attributes, and I am sure he will contribute in the near future and maybe be the Bella Kotchap we all thought we were getting and write his own legacy in Southampton colours.
Damion Downs
Damion Downs (21) The American international joined from FC Koln for a reported £8.6m. Downs has shown glimpses of promise so far, being the tall (6 ft 4 in), athletic, powerful and quick runner that Southampton have been looking for and the profile of striker that we haven’t really had before. This furthermore reinforces Johannes Spors’ ideas of building a team that has the physical strength and power that, again, we haven’t had for a while and a team that can outrun and bully teams off the pitch, bringing some nastiness into the side that we again haven’t had for a while.
Downs, as said previously, has shown some glimmers of hope and what he was here to do. For example, his goal in pre-season vs Espanyol was a goal taken from getting a run in behind and taking his chance, finishing excellently. However, we have seen the other side in Jack Stephens’ goal vs Wrexham. Damion Downs missed an absolute sitter, allowing it to run across for Jack Stephens to bury. The American also missed a few chances vs Stoke and Northampton, and since then hasn’t been given too much of an opportunity to showcase his skills and a chance that I’m sure will come; however, with Cameron Archer firing them in at the moment, he may have to wait.
RATING: 7.5/10
A player that has not yet shown his quality, but he will for sure and once he does, he won’t stop scoring in my opinion and will be a vital part of our potential promotion.
Leo Scienza
Leo Scienza (26) was signed on deadline day from Bundesliga outfit FC Heidenheim, where he managed to grab 9 goals and 8 assists since the start of the 24/25 season. The Brazilian winger is known for his excellent take-on ability and his creativity in the final third, where hopefully he can fill the void that Southampton have had for a while without a natural left-winger and hopefully be huge in the Saints’ push for promotion.
As shown by the stats above, he is a real demon in the final third, but he is also a good set-piece taker, giving Saints just that bit more quality whilst adding flair and style to the frontline. Leo isn’t in the mould of all the signings that Spors have made this summer, as he doesn’t have that physical quality; however, he makes up for it with his great technical ability.
RATING: 8.5/10
Everything points towards Leo Scienza having a great season, and for only a reported £9m, it could look like a steal for the tricky Brazilian, who hopefully can add the necessary firepower to send Saints straight back up.
Tom Fellows
Tom Fellows (22) was my personal number one target for Southampton should Tyler Dibling leave the club, as he gives us something we didn’t have, and that’s the out-and-out touchline winger who will beat his man with his trademark step-overs and get to the byline before delivering an excellent cross for the attackers in the box. Last season, Fellows registered 4 goals and 14 assists for the Baggies, playing 45 games in all.
For a reported fee of £10m, it’s an absolute steal for the quality of player he possesses, and he can go and do it in the Premier League. I, for one, was sure he would end up costing £15m+, but to sign him for £8m with £2m in add-ons is unbelievable, and I give my hats off to Spors and the recruitment team for that.
Fellows will undoubtedly change our squad for the better. He gives us that natural width that we severely lacked on the right-hand side but also has that X factor to change something in the blink of an eye and win us games and potentially promotion. I now don’t see another way of us playing other than the 4-2-3-1 with this excellent addition.
RATING: 10/10
Tom will no doubt be so Vital for us this year, and for that tiny fee we had to pay, it’s just an absolutely sensational signing and is our signing of the summer for sure.
Summary
The transfer window was so vital for us to get rid of some deadwood, which we did well and got some good loans for our players too whilst also getting okay fees for our players, albeit we probably could have pushed for £50m on both Tyler Dibling and Mateus Fernandes both players wanted to leave, and therefore it was best for both parties that deals were struck.
We signed the right players in the right position, so overall, I’m going to give the window a 9/10. The only missing piece would have been another CM for cover, but with Aribo potentially going nowhere, he could step in and do the job.
Now that the work has been done off the pitch, it’s now up to Will Still and the players to perform on the pitch and what better time to start than with the South Coast Derby up next!
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