Southampton looked to have completed an eye-catching signing on the final day of this summer’s transfer window.
That came with the Saints completing the signing of striker Ross Stewart from Championship rivals Sunderland.
The striker joined for a fee of £8million, following a prolific period at The Stadium of Light.
However, Stewart had missed the second half of last season for the Black Cats due to injury. Those fitness issues have so far followed him to Southampton.
Having been made to wait until November to make his debut for Russell Martin’s side, the 27-year-old picked up another injury shortly after.
It was then confirmed in January that Stewart has been ruled out for the remainder of the campaign.
That is something that already looks as though it could prove rather costly for Southampton.
Ross Stewart wages assessed
According to Salary Sport, Stewart is currently earning £28,000 per week at St Mary’s. That works out at £1.456million per year.
Meanwhile, WhoScored states that the striker has played just 17 minutes of football for Southampton this season, across two appearances.
As a result, since making the move to the Saints, Stewart has earned a remarkable £728,000 for every appearance he has made this season. Indeed, that also works out at £85,647 per minute that he has played during the current campaign.
Southampton will want Ross Stewart back soon
So far this season, Martin’s side have coped reasonably well with the absence of the likes of Stewart.
That is thanks largely to the form of the likes of Adam Armstrong, who is in contention for the Golden Boot this season.
However, Southampton are still only 4th in the Championship table, at risk of being cut adrift from the race for automatic promotion.
Had Stewart been fit and available throughout the campaign, that could have been different.
He showed during his time with Sunderland that he is more than capable of getting goals at this level. If the striker had done that for the Saints this season, they may have been even closer to the top two spots.
As a result, getting him back will be a major boost for Southampton’s prospects on the pitch from next season.
Beyond that, it will also give them an opportunity to get a return on their not insignificant investment on Stewart.
Indeed, with two more years remaining on Stewart’s contract with Southampton, there is at least still time for that to happen.