Southampton are closing in on another new face this summer as they look to avoid relegation from the Premier League during the 2024/25 season.
Busy summer for Southampton
Russell Martin's side edged past Leeds United in the Championship playoff final to earn their place in the top flight for the upcoming campaign, but the transfer window on the south coast so far has been somewhat underwhelming.
Though they have added 10 new faces to their squad, their two major purchases (in excess of £6m) have both been to make last season's loanees permanent residents at St Mary's. Taylor Harwood-Bellis' arrival was confirmed for £20m thanks to a clause in his contract that made the deal permanent if the club achieved promotion, while they also agreed a £15m deal with West Ham United to sign Flynn Downes.
The Saints also added Yuki Sugawara in a deal worth £5.5m, as well as promising young duo Nathan Wood (22) and Ronnie Edwards (21) from Swansea and Peterborough respectively. Beyond that, they have opted to sign five free agents, headlined by former Saint Adam Lallana as they look to blend experience and youth.
Southampton's new faces summer 2024
Player
Fee
Age
Taylor Harwood-Bellis
£20m
22
Flynn Downes
£15m
25
Yuki Sugawara
£5.5m
24
Nathan Wood
£3m
22
Ronnie Edwards
£3m
21
Adam Lallana
Free
36
Charlie Taylor
Free
30
Welington
Free
24
Juan
Free
22
Rento Takaoka
Free
18
With Che Adams having left as a free agent though, there is a hole at the top of the pitch, and the Saints are now on the verge of plugging it.
Southampton agree £7m deal for forward
That comes with transfer guru Fabrizio Romano revealing that Southampton have agreed a deal to sign Ben Brereton-Diaz from Villarreal.
The Chilean striker spent the second half of the 2023/24 campaign on loan with Sheffield United, where he scored six times in 14 outings but could not prevent the Blades from being relegated.
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Returning to Villarreal, he has been deemed surplus to requirements despite still having three years left to run on his £40,000 a week deal with the Yellow Submarine.
Now, Southampton have pounced, with the south coast side agreeing a fee of around £7m to bring Diaz back to England, where he made his name. Romano adds that personal terms are "on the verge of being agreed" with the contract "set to be signed soon" and Brereton-Diaz set to travel to Southampton to complete the move.
Breaking through at Blackburn Rovers, Brereton-Diaz was hailed as having an "extraordinary" workrate by former manager Tony Mowbray back in 2021.
“He’s working extraordinarily hard tracking full backs – or wing-backs as it was today. So the physical output has been amazing really", the former Ewood Park boss explained.
“I’m just delighted he’s getting the rewards for all the hard work he does, as they all do to be honest. The training sessions are less group training sessions and more individual and the team are seeing the benefit of that.”
Capable of playing on the left-flank or centrally, he will add plenty of options to Martin's attack and brings extra experience of top flight football, which could prove invaluable in their relegation battle.