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An update has emerged on Southampton and their plans to add a third new signing to the group ahead of the 2023/24 Championship campaign…
What’s the latest Southampton transfer news?
According to the Sky Sports transfer centre [19:33pm – 24th July], Russell Martin is eyeing up a swoop to sign Leicester City defensive midfielder Hamza Choudhury following the arrivals of Shae Charles and Ryan Manning.
The report claims that the Saints head coach has been a long-time admirer of the English enforcer and would now like to bring him to St. Mary’s during the summer transfer window.
It states that the 25-year-old ball-winner has one year left on his current contract at the King Power but Enzo Maresca sees the gem as being part of his plans as it stands, which could make this a difficult deal for the club to complete.
How good is Hamza Choudhury?
The Foxes academy graduate is coming off the back of an excellent season on loan with Watford in the Championship and would, therefore, join Southampton as a proven second-tier performer who could slot straight into the team.
He is a combative midfielder who excels at winning possession back for his side on a regular basis and could be the club’s next Oriol Romeu, who recently signed for Spanish giants Barcelona from Girona.
During his time at St. Mary’s, the impressive Spaniard forged a reputation for being a tough-tackling holding midfielder. In his last season with the Saints, Romeu made 3.5 tackles and interceptions per game across 36 Premier League matches during the 2021/22 campaign.
That came after the 31-year-old brute made an eye-catching 4.7 defensive interventions per outing throughout the previous top-flight term, which was more than any other midfielder at the club managed.
Choudhury’s form for Watford in the season just gone indicates that he has the ability to offer a similar level of defensive protection in front of the back four in a holding midfield position.
The £61k-per-week battler made an outstanding 5.3 tackles and interceptions per match across 36 league appearances for the Hornets. Whereas, no Saints midfielder produced more than 3.2 per outing during their Premier League campaign.
For his displays last season, the Leicester ace ranks in the top 1% of his positional peers across the Championship for interceptions per 90 (2.40) and within the top 3% for tackles per 90 (3.20), as per FBref.
This suggests that he is one of the best midfielders in the division when it comes to disrupting play and cutting out opposition attacks on a regular basis, which is what Romeu excelled at.
Choudhury’s average Sofascore rating of 6.96, albeit at second tier level, would also have placed him third within Southampton’s squad – only behind James Ward-Prowse and Mohamed Salisu – as one of their top-performing players.
Therefore, the strong warrior, who journalist Ben Jacobs claimed still has “huge potential”, could be Romeu 2.0 for the Saints as a holding midfielder who can constantly win the ball back for the team with tackles and interceptions.
At the age of 25, he would also come in as a player with more room to develop under Martin’s coaching and could be a long-term investment as well as a star with the quality to make an immediate impact.