Our regular correspondent Dan takes a look at just what Saints will need to do before the transfer window slams shut.
The transfer window is now officially open despite plenty of clubs making signings for the month in between the end of the 2016/17 season and the 1st of July.
However, in this period of time, the only business that Southampton have done buying a young Polish centre-back who is likely to be a player that improves the depth of the squad in central defence and not one that is a regular starter for the first-team.
They have also sold J-Rod for a good fee of between £12m and £15m and sent Harrison Reed on loan to Norwich, a move I feel was long overdue.
Unfortunately, Saints may see themselves falling behind of Premier League rivals as Everton have already spent big money this summer and Leicester look set to splash the cash as well. Fans want to see big money signings and statements of intent by the club as they know that enough money is coming in.
But does the club need to make a good handful of signings to try and get back to European qualification (this surely is the goal) or do they need to have a different type of window to the clubs that are looking to finish in the same place?
By a different transfer window I mean one that doesn’t involve signing a bunch of new players like in Koeman’s first summer. I think that the main importance of this window is making sure that the club prevent certain players from leaving than focusing on new ones coming in; I am of course referring to the likes of Virgil van Dijk, Ryan Bertrand and Cedric.
These three players are the ones that have been linked with big moves away from the south-coast with van Dijk receiving attention from pretty much every media outlet in the world.
We’ve already seen the somewhat satisfying rejection of a move to Liverpool for the defender after Liverpool tapped him up before contacting the club and so had to publicly state that they were no longer interested in him.
But plenty of other clubs are prepared to pay big money for the Saints skipper but fans just have to pray that big Les and co. stand firm this summer and not give outsiders a reason to call Southampton a "selling club”.
For me, keeping van Dijk, Bertrand and Cedric all together would be better than any signing that the club could make.
But of course signings to need to be made despite already having a decent squad that underachieved last season for the quality that it possesses. With Sofiane Boufal potentially having a much better season than last and Nathan Redmond on the rise, the team could already be ready to compete for Europe once again!
However, for me I feel like maybe two statement signings and a couple of players just to improve depth would be all that is necessary in terms of bringing in players.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the club should go for Gylfi Sigurdson. He’s proven in the Premier League and will be looking for a move to a club with a bit more ambition than Swansea. Yes, the papers are reporting that Leicester and Everton are chasing him but he has been linked with the club in the past and we know that the Icelandic midfielder has been on the Southampton radar for the past few seasons.
Yes the price tag will be large but last summer the club spent just over £40m in total on players and with a lack of necessity for a large number of incomings this season, I would rather the club spent around £30m on Sigurdson, who has proven himself in the Premier League, than buy a couple of players with a total sum of £30m that won’t have too much of an effect.
For me, a transfer window where the club keep their starts and make a statement or two would be one of the best transfer windows that Southampton fans have seen in a while. With a squad needing just one or two high quality additions to potentially reach their ambitions, the club may not have a window similar to one of their rivals also competing for Europe but one where their stars stay will be very beneficial to the season ahead.