The football media is full of stories linking Saints with a central defender who is being compared with a young Virgil Van Dijk, but the big question is why ! Currently the squad is in double figures in that position.
There can be no arguments that Saints are overloaded in the central defensive area, with Armel Bella-Kotchap, Jan Bednarek, Taylor Harwood-Bellis, Nathan Wood, Ronnie Edwards & Jack Stephens all proven at Championship level and above, recent signings Joachim Kayi-Sanda & Joshua Quarshie up and coming and having played on the Continent and youngsters like Zach Awe & Nico Lawrence having played in League Two on loan, highly rated 18 year old Jayden Moore, that takes us into double figures and this number does not include the likes of Charlie Taylor & James Bree who can also play in this position as well as full back, indeed Shea Charles and Joe Aribo have also been employed in the centre of defence at times.
That was a big paragraph and it needed to be I make it 11 specialist central defenders, 2 with a fair bit of experience in that position and 2 who can be played there if needed, a grand total of 15.
Although some of these will be sold, how many will Saints manage to get off the books ? perhaps 5 or 6, maybe 7 at a push.
But what is needed in the centre of our defence and has been lacking since the departure of Virgil Van Dijk and Jose Fonte is a leader, a succession of signings in this area in the near on 8 years since Van Dyke left, is a genuine leader of men and for all the fine words for Jack Stephens by Russell Martin, Jack for all his loyalty & qualities, is not a leader of men.
So if we were looking to bring in a man with experience in terms of both games played at the top level and leadership, I would be having no arguments about it.
But as footballfancast.com are reporting, the target is Volendam central defender Xavier Mbuyamba.
In many respects in different circumstances I would be enthused by this, he has a decent pedigree and is big at 6ft 5 and strong and able to play with the ball at his feet.
He has played for the youth team at Barcelona and also at Chelsea before joining Volendam in his native Holland in September 2022.
But there his experience has been limited, in his first season he played 28 games in the Eridivisie, in 2023/24 he was restricted to just 9 League appearances due to hear problems as Volendam were relegated.
So last season he plied his trade in the second tier of Dutch football, starting 34 of the 38 games as Volendam won promotion back to the Eridivisie.
But for all his potential as he approaches his 24th birthday in December , his total top flight appearance number is just 37, with another 45 in the 2nd tier in Holland.
So Xavier Mbuyamba is hardly the experienced leader of men that we need, plenty of potential perhaps, but we already have Joachim Kayi- Sanda and Joshua Quarshie in that area.
If Jan Bednarek, Armel Bella-Kotchap & Taylor Harwood-Bellis all leave, that will leave just Jack Stephens, Nathan Wood & Ronnie Edwards with any experience at Championship level.
Perhaps Xavier Mbuyamba is worth taking a punt on, with a year left on his contract it is said that we could get him for somewhere between £400-500 k, but we will face competition from Watford, Rangers & Genk.
However the issue still remains of having a leader in the centre of defence, Will Still may feel Jack Stephens is that man, but as Russell Martin found out, that will not be the case, your Captain has to a be a nailed on first choice season after season and Jack Stephens has never been that at Southampton and to be blunt is not likely to be this season, as it stands at the moment.
So if we sign Mbuyamba for £400k I would not be too disappointed, this is modern football, for over 60 years the Southampton way is to buy players with potential whom we can develop, but truth is that over the years not every signing has become a first team regular, so the trick is to then move them on at a profit.
That has always been the Saints way and not one invented by Sport Republic, for every Virgil Van Dyke there has been a Florin Gardos, signed for £4 million and released on a free 4 years later after just 5 starts in the Premier League, you have to take chances and if you cover your costs then the system is working.
But it still remains, whatever happens we are lacking that vital cog in the wheel, an experienced leader of men.