Southampton have lived to survive another season in the Premier League, but they will never want to have a repeat of what they’ve gone through this year. A nervy game at Swansea was enough to maintain their Premier League status, as they stayed up by the skin of their teeth.
Mark Hughes looks set to be announced as the permanent manager of the club next week, after his initial 10-week trial with the club, but it will be interesting to see if the Southampton hierarchy allow Hughes to take control of the transfers after his record at other clubs, which is nothing short of abysmal.
When he was in charge at Stoke, he splashed the cash and made the two most expensive signings at the Staffordshire club in the form of Kevin Wimmer (£18m) and Gianni Imbula (£18.3m).
These two players cost a combined total of £36.3m and made 29 appearances for Stoke combined, with Imbula then moving on loan to Toulouse and Wimmer being relegated to the Stoke reserve team.
These examples are not exactly a glowing recommendation of Hughes’ ability to spend large amounts of money responsibly, which is why it will be interesting to see how the management of transfers develops at Southampton.
One name that has been linked to Southampton a great deal is that of Middlesbrough defender Ben Gibson, who has had an interesting season in the Championship this year. The 25-year-old has been an integral part of a Middlesbrough defence that has kept 17 clean sheets in the Championship this year – the 6th highest in the league.
Southampton are still looking for a long-term replacement for Virgil Van Dijk but Hughes has also played with a back-three for most of his tenure at the club. Therefore, he will be looking for top quality additions to bolster this back line and give him strength in depth.
Gibson is rated at £20million, which seems a lot for a Championship defender but in buying him, you are not just buying a top quality player, you are also buying a young English leader, who Hughes can build his team around.
Weighing it all up, Ben Gibson could be an excellent signing for Southampton, as he would help them break into the Premier League top-10 next season. He will stabilise the defence and help lower the number of goals conceded, while also forming a foundation for Hughes to build his team upon – which seems invaluable.
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