Southampton Season Preview

Here is everything you need to know about Southampton ahead of their 2024/25 Premier League campaign, following a year’s absence in the Championship.

Who have Southampton signed in the summer transfer window so far?

Aaron Ramsdale from Arsenal - £25 million.

Taylor Harwood-Bellis from Manchester City - £20 million.

Mateus Fernandes from Sporting Lisbon - £15 million.

Cameron Archer from Aston Villa - £15 million.

Flynn Downes from West Ham - £18 million.

Ben Brereton Diaz from Villarreal - £7 million.

Yukinari Sugawara from AZ Alkmaar - £5.9 million.

Nathan Wood from Swansea - £3 million.

Ronnie Edwards from Peterborough - £3 million.

Baylee Dipepa from Port Vale - Undisclosed.

Kuryu Matsuki from FC Tokyo - Undisclosed.

Welington from Sao Paulo - Free transfer.

Charlie Taylor from Burnley - Free transfer.

Adam Lallana from Brighton - Free transfer.

Juan from Sao Paulo - Free transfer.

Rento Takaoka from Nissho Gakuen - Free transfer.

Ryan Fraser from Newcastle United - Free transfer.

Lesley Ugochukwu from Chelsea - Season long loan.

Maxwell Cornet from West Ham - Season long loan.

Who have Southampton sold so far this transfer window?

Lyanco to Club Atletico Mineiro - £3.8 million.

Duje Caleta-Car to Lyon - Loan made permanent for £3 million.

Romain Perraud to Real Betis - £3 million.

Che Adams to Torino - Free transfer.

Kuryu Matsuki to Goztepe - Season long loan.

Shea Charles to Sheffield Wednesday - Season long loan.

Diamond Edwards to Port Vale - Season long loan.

Dom Ballard to Blackpool - Season long loan.

Nico Lawrence to MK Dons - Season long loan.

Cameron Bragg to Northampton Town - Season long loan.

Stuart Armstrong - Contract expired.

Southampton 2024/25 Home Kit

🚨 Southampton home kit for 2024/2025🚨 pic.twitter.com/mcJ7YG3dbz

— sisuuu (@StephanoJulius6) July 18, 2024

Southampton 2024/25 Away Kit

@SouthamptonFC new away kit by @pumafootball, features dazzle camo which was a method of camouflage used on WW1 ships. Dazzle camouflage varied from ship to ship so no two ships had the same, looking at the shirts I think subtle variations of the patterns are used too! pic.twitter.com/pjSONVoh7I

— Kit_Chat_Matt (@kits_out) July 29, 2024

Who do Southampton play on the opening day of the season?

Newcastle vs Southampton.

St. James’ Park.

3pm, Saturday 17th August.

Where can I watch Newcastle vs Southampton?

The game has no TV coverage, but commentary will be available on TalkSport and/or BBC Radio 5 Live.

What are Southampton’s opening five fixtures?

Southampton vs Nottingham Forest - Saturday 24th August.

Brentford vs Southampton - Saturday 31st August.

Southampton vs Manchester United - Saturday 14th September.

Southampton vs Ipswich Town - Saturday 21st September.

When do Southampton play rivals Bournemouth?

Bournemouth vs Southampton - Monday 30th September.

Southampton vs Bournemouth - Saturday 15th February.

Last five results when Southampton have played Bournemouth:

• 27/04/2023: Southampton 0-1 Bournemouth.
• 19/10/2022: Bournemouth 0-1 Southampton.
• 19/07/2020: Bournemouth 0-2 Southampton.
• 20/09/2019: Southampton 1-3 Bournemouth.
• 27/04/2019: Southampton 3-3 Bournemouth.

Where did Southampton finish last season?

Finishing fourth in the Championship last season after almost an entire season spent in the top four, Southampton were the deserving winners of the most profitable game in football, the Championship play-off final, securing their place back in the Premier league.

Embodying a high risk high reward brand of football under coach Russell Martin, Southampton games rarely fail to entertain, and their games saw on average more goals than any other of the 23 teams in the second tier.

However, they are also able to play a more restrained brand of football, as they showed in the Championship play-offs, scoring four in three games, and conceding just one. They showed great maturity in the play-off final, smothering fellow promotion chasers Leeds United after Adam Armstrong gave them a first half lead.

In fact, Armstrong was a revelation last season, spearheading the attack, and with the threat of Kyle Walker-Peters on the right and a solid foundation at the back between Harwood-Bellis and Bednarek, Southampton showed more than enough quality to potentially win the Championship outright.

However, they paid the price for their inconsistent results and frequent off days, and will be hoping to address these concerns prior to 2024/25.

Best result: Southampton 5-0 Swansea. (Aribo 17’, Edozie 48’, Fraser 74’, 87’, Adams 90+3’).

Worst result: Sunderland 5-0 Southampton. (Clarke 1’, Ekwah 7’, 45’, Dack 48’, Rigg 90+5’).

Who is Southampton’s manager for 2024/25?

Our manager 😇

Russell Martin has become an honorary graduate at @uniofbrighton in recognition of his work to improve the lives of young people in Brighton & Hove ❤️ pic.twitter.com/yAExZgvsMW

— Southampton FC (@SouthamptonFC) July 31, 2024

Former Norwich City center back Russell Martin had an immediate impact as Southampton coach after being appointed right before the 2023/24 season kicked off.

Leaving Swansea for the Southampton vacancy, his high tempo style of football immediately yielded results on the south coast, and he led the Saints on an unbeaten streak lasting from the end of September to the end of February, totalling 25 games without a loss in all competitions.

On the flipside, Martin’s ‘go for broke’ style can see Southampton completely implode. They conceded the second most goals of the top nine teams, a total of 63 across the season, and found themselves in more than one losing scenario they should not have encountered in the first place.

Though his tactics yielded results in the Championship, Martin needs to temper his style for the ‘dog eat dog’ world of the Premier League, in which he has never managed before, if Southampton are to stay up and build a foundation for future success.

Who is Southampton’s player to watch for 2023/24? Adam Armstrong

João Pedro doubts?

My Adam Armstrong propaganda begins now 😎 pic.twitter.com/fD0iDMfBpb

— FPL Pricey (@FPLPricey) July 19, 2024

After a couple of fruitless seasons in the Premier since he was signed in 2021, Armstrong became Southampton's main attacking threat in the Championship. He scored 21 goals in the league, and provided another 13 assists, totalling an excellent 34 goals involvements in 46 games.

Though he cuts a diminutive figure with his short build, Armstrong is ironically, deceptively strong, and his penetrating runs in behind twisted defenders in knots last season. His finishing also found a new level last year, as it was the second highest scoring season of his career, trailing only his 2020/21 campaign with Blackburn, in which he scored 28 times.

Deservedly winning Southampton’s player of the year award, the Saint’s will hope Armstrong can carry the same level of performance into the Premier League, with more success than his two seasons before they were relegated back to the Championship.

Season Prediction

Southampton’s games next season will certainly be worth watching, as multiple goals are almost guaranteed. The issue for the seasider’s is that it’s never entirely certain which side will score them.

While they won by considerable margins on countless occasions last season, many of their defeats were by similar heavy scorelines. It seems that once Southampton concede one, more follow.

Hopefully, some of their summer signings bring experience and tenacity which will aid in keeping the defense tight when they are trailing, granting them a better chance of coming back from a deficit. However, if last season is anything to go by, Southampton’s defeats will be heavy, and any lax defending is punished more often than not in the Premier League.

Prediction: 20th.