Russell Martin will be eyeing more firepower at Southampton after winning promotion to the Premier League and an ‘unstoppable’ striker can be the upgrade he needs on Che Adams.
Southampton clinched the final Premier League spot on Sunday as Adam Armstrong’s winner proved to be the difference against Leeds United at Wembley.
The Saints are playing catchup on the rest of their rivals to get business done and whilst promotion celebrations are ongoing, work has begun behind the scenes.
The permanent £20 million signing of Taylor Harwood-Bellis from Manchester City was confirmed after winning promotion but Russell Martin isn’t just eyeing up defensive reinforcements.
Martin will be looking to bolster his attack with added quality, especially if Che Adams leaves on a free transfer.
Che Adams’ future at Southampton is up in the air
Adams’ future at St Marys has been up in the air for a while now.
The 27-year-old sees his contract expire this summer on the back of a 17-goal campaign for the Saints, with several Premier League clubs – including Wolves – showing a keen interest.
Martin has recently responded to those rumours by claiming he’d be happy keeping all three of the out-of-contract trio; Adams, Stuart Armstrong and Alex McCarthy.
Speaking to the Daily Echo, he said: “Yeah, we’ll try and keep all three. I think that’s been the plan the whole time. Whether or not we can, I don’t know.
“I know that there will be offers for all of them and probably offers that will pay them more than we can.”
It points towards Martin wanting to continue working with the Scottish striker, although Adams has hinted at leaving previously.
If he does decide against signing a new deal, Southampton could land a huge upgrade on the former Birmingham striker by launching a move for Serhou Guirassy.
Serhou Guirassy would be an upgrade on Che Adams
A raft of clubs across Europe and in the Premier League are interested in signing Stuttart goal-machine Guirassy this summer.
The “unstoppable” striker – as dubbed by talent scout Antonio Mango – has ripped apart opposition defences for fun in the Bundesliga, scoring 28 goals in Germany’s top division.
Remarkably, only Harry Kane across Europe’s top five leagues has scored more league goals than Guirassy, with the 28-year-old finding the net more times than world-class forwards Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland.
What makes the powerful striker an even more enticing proposition is the £15 million release clause in his contract, which is bound to attract a queue of clubs this summer.
As a newly promoted side, Southampton perhaps wouldn’t have a chance of winning the race for his signature, but his attacking statistics reinforce the need to sign him.
As delineated by the above table, Guirassy is producing metrics that place him above most of the top strikers across Europe and usurps Adams for his creativity, shooting and physical ability in the air.
The likelihood of signing the Guinea goal machine to upgrade on Adams is extremely difficult but if there’s somehow an opportunity to sign him, he could be the man to keep Southampton in the Premier League.