The summer will be one of change at St Mary's with multiple comings and goings, but the key to a promotion push could lie closer to home, with the return of those players who have been out on loan at other clubs.
Saints loaned out over 10 players last season and 5 of those who spent all or part of the season away from the club, could well be crucial to Saints chances of a swift return to the Premier League next season.
The first of those is Gavin Bazunu, he joined Standard Liege back in January after 9 months out after being injured in the warm up against Preston in April 2024 and he managed 8 games for the Belgian club before another injury ended his season.
But with Arron Ramsdale likely to depart St Mary's this summer, Saints will have a ready made replacement assuming that Bazunu's injury has recovered before the start of the season.
The Irish keeper had his critics, but in 2023/24 he was between the sticks in all of the 23 game unbeaten run in the League and to be blunt you don't complete a run like that if you have a dodgy keeper, especially is as those self same critics also moaned about, that we had the worst left back in the division also in the team.
Food for thought here, Bazunu was a young keeper thrown into a Premier League relegation battle 3 years ago and that damaged his confidence, but he is now older and wiser and will be an asset to Saints next season.
Next up is Ronnie Edwards, he arrived last summer from Peterborough, but his total minutes for the club were 12 minutes as a sub against Chelsea and 86 minutes in a win against Cardiff early in the season in the League cup.
However on loan at Queens Park Rangers in the Championship he has been a revelation, after coming on as a sub in his first game, he was an ever present in the remaining 20 League games and was voted QPR's young player of the year.
At 22 and with almost 15 League games to his name, he showed at Loftus Road that he was Championship quality and could well be a mainstay in the Saints defence in the coming season.
Perhaps having the best season was Shea Charles, the midfielder spent the season at Sheffield Wednesday where he was voted their player of the season after starring in all of the 43 games he was at the club for in the Championship.
He again is another who never really got the credit he deserved from a section of the fanbase, but he has now grown in stature and confidence and is another who turning 22 in November is now ready to blossom.
Sam Edozie is yet another whose contributions have were never really been appreciated by some Southampton supporters during our promotion season, but his 6 goals and 3 assists in 32 regular season games in the Championship was a good haul for a winger, that compares favourably with Ryan Fraser who took 39 games to get his 6 goals and had one assist less than Edozie.
On loan at Anderlecht he has had a good season, in 23 Jupilo League games he scored 3 goals and 3 assists and added to that 5 games in the Europa League where he scored once and added an assist to his total.
So he too is another who will return to the club aged 22 with experience and confidence added to his game and he could well be a crucial figure in a promotion push.
Last but not least is Adam Armstrong, whilst in the Premier League he has not quite managed to shine, his work rate was never appreciated, but in the Championship in 23/24 he was outstanding.
Playing in all 46 regular season games he scored 21 goals to finish second in the goalscoring stakes, but his 13 assists gave him the most number of goals involved in.
Add to that he added 3 goals in the 3 play off games including that memorable winner at Wembley and the conclusion is that at 28 he is at the peak of his game, he might not have shone at West Brom on loan, but you could say his confidence was shot under Ivan Juric.
Adam Armstrong in our team next season is a no brainer for me, add to that Cameron Archer who has been prolific in the Championship for Middlesbrough where he hit 11 goals in just 20 games and also Preston where he also played 20 games and scored 7 goals and Ross Stewart who hit 10 goals in just 13 League games in the Championship for Sunderland plus 3 assists and we have a Championship ready attack.
There are those who will talk of how we will be lucky to escape relegation next season, but I am not one of them, we have 5 players returning to the club from loan who have the experience and track record to excel in the Championship for Saints next season, add to that those who will potentially be at the club including Ben Brereton Diaz another with the track record at this level and there is much to be positive about.