If the recent rumours out of St Mary's are anything to go off, Southampton's summer window has so far seen them balance moving for established Premier League performers with some of England's most exciting young players.
Southampton swoop for a slew of new signings
The first signing of the window saw Southampton reunite with Adam Lallana, who returned to the South Coast club almost a decade after he left for Liverpool. Another ex-Saint on the club's list of targets is Danny Ings. The 31-year-old made exactly 100 appearances for the Saints across both loan and permanent spells at the club and now could return after struggling for form at West Ham.
Southampton want to sign £20k-a-week ace who Luis Suarez thinks is "great"
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1 ByHenry JacksonJun 29, 2024
Young players are also a priority for the Saints with the club set to make the signing of Peterborough United star Ronnie Edwards. The 21-year-old has long been linked with a £10 million move to the South Coast this summer.
With one eye in the Saints' recruitment team looking for the next generation of stars, Southampton are now stepping up their pursuit of a talented English striker.
Saints step up pursuit of Man City striker
As first reported by Football Insider's Pete O'Rourke, Southampton are stepping up their interest in Man City striker Liam Delap. The outlet claims that the Premier League champions value the player at £20 million as they look to offload the 21-year-old this summer.
After Taylor Harwood-Bellis joined the Saints permanently from the Etihad outfit a couple of days ago, it is clear that the two clubs are not shy of doing business together, having also dealt together in the past for Gavin Bazunu, Samuel Edozie and Romeo Lavia.
Delap spent last season on loan at Hull City, where he scored 8 goals in 31 league appearances for the Tigers – many of the Saints' faithful will remember the young striker finding the back of the net in October 2023 as Hull lost 2-1 at home to Southampton.
The 21-year-old's time at Hull saw him excel under Liam Rosenior's possession based system. A player able to drop deep and facilitate play or run at centre backs with the ball at his feet, it is clear that Delap would be the perfect striker for if Russell Martin decides to take his current style of play into the Premier League.
A product of Derby County's academy, Delap joined Man City in 2019 and made his debut soon after, scoring in a 2-1 victory over Bournemouth in the third round of the Carabao Cup. His time at the Etihad saw Delap earn praise from City's coach Pep Guardiola, who spoke highly of the striker back in 2022.
"Liam last season grew up a lot especially with Enzo Maresca helping him to develop. He is a type of striker we don’t have, a killer, typical British striker."
With City's current strike partnership of Julian Alvarez and Erling Haaland young enough to keep going for the next ten years, it is clear as to why the decision has been made to let Delap leave this summer and Southampton should snatch at the opportunity to sign him.