Southampton: Saints could make ‘two or three more signings’ this month

Chloe Chadwick 23 January 2023, 18:10 2 minutes read

Nathan-Jones-after-the-game-for-Southampton

Goodison Park, Liverpool, Britain - January 14, 2023. Southampton manager Nathan Jones celebrates after the match.

Southampton could bring ‘two or three’ more new players to the Premier League this month, according to transfer insider Fabrizio Romano.

The Lowdown: Jones’ first window

Nathan Jones is now overseeing his opening window in charge at St. Mary’s and has already completed his first two signings in the form of Mislav Orsic and Carlos Alcaraz, but the boss isn’t showing any signs of stopping there.

The Daily Mail have reported that the south coast outfit are also closing in on an £18m deal to sign Villarreal forward Nicolas Jackson, and being at rock bottom of the table, the need for attacking reinforcements is clear.

The Latest: Further incomings?

Speaking to GiveMeSport, Romano was supportive of a move for Jackson and suggested that Southampton won’t even stop there:

“I think Southampton will be busy; Jackson in as an attacking player could be a solution, so they’re following probably players for two or three more signings before the end of the window.”

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The Verdict: Is Jackson a risk?

Southampton are the fourth joint-lowest scoring team in the league so far this season, highlighting their need for goals, but we’re not so sure Jackson is the right man to come in and change their fortunes in the final third.

The right-footed striker has only scored three goals in 33 appearances for Villarreal and is averaging just 1.1 shots per game, showing that he isn’t as prolific as Jones would need a new attacker to be. He sits in the 13th percentile for goals per 90 minutes by forwards in Europe’s top leagues, also ranking poorly in terms of expected goals, showing he is not likely to suddenly become more prolific than he is right now (FBRef).

The Saints should therefore turn their attention towards other targets should they want to steer themselves away from danger and avoid the drop at the end of the 2022/23 campaign, perhaps a more experienced goalscorer like Duvan Zapata, who has fallen out of favour at Atalanta and is linked with Premier League teams.