It was a tricky season last season for the Saints, but Mark Hughes eventually guided the South Coast club to Premier League safety.
Selling their best players and losing their managers seemed to finally catch up with the club last season. A poor run of form which saw the Saints flirt with relegation saw the end of Mauricio Pellegrino and the arrival of Mark Hughes. Hughes managed to lift a squad of underperforming players to safety.
Saints fans will be pleased to see their club has invested to try and ensure a repeat of last season does not ensue. Stuart Armstrong from Celtic, and Jannik Vestergaard from Borussia Mochengladbach both look solid addition, but the signing of Mohamed Elyounoussi will have really excited the Saints faithful. The Norwegian international has been one of the most exciting players in the Swiss top-flight for the past two seasons, and has already been capped 14 times by his country despite being just 23-years-old.
Up-top, Southampton look like they are still light, but a couple more additions before deadline day and the Saints should be well placed for survival.
Here is Southampton’s dream August…
Southampton simply must sign a top quality Premier League striker. Their current options are not good enough for a club that wants to have no worries of the drop.
Shane Long is now 31-years-old and scored a pitiful two Premier League goals last season. Mark Hughes should look to sell the Championship-quality striker while the Saints can still fetch a decent price for the Irishman.
Charlie Austin also struggled with 7 Premier League goals, meanwhile Manolo Gabbiadini, who burst onto the Premier League scene, simply didn’t look the same player and scored just five Premier League goals.
Signing a proven Premier League striker before deadline day would go a long way towards giving the Saints a truly dream August.
Southampton need results to have a dream August, if they can come out of their first three tough fixtures unscathed, they will have set themselves up for a good season.
Kicking their season off against Sean Dyche’s Burnley at St Mary’s will be a tough ask. Dyche’s men, against all odds, secured a Europa League spot last season. One ray of light for the Saints will be that Burnley’s stoppers, Tom Heaton and Nick Pope are both out injured. Three points to kickstart the season is a must.
They then travel away to Everton, another club who had a poor first-half to last season, before welcoming Leicester City to the South Coast. Both of these fixtures will be difficult, but a combined four points from these games, and the Saints faithful will be more than satisfied.
