Ross Stewart's time so far at Southampton has not been great, that is not the fault of the player himself, after joining with an injury that soon cleared up, he has suffered a series of unrelated injuries, but in recent months he has shown why the club bought him in the first place. With his contract up in the summer, will he stay or will he go !
The first two seasons at St Mary's were not good for Ross Stewart, in his first season he manged just 4 appearances, his second was a little better, 12 Premier League appearances and his first goal for the club in the final game of the season against Arsenal.
This season has also see him miss significant time through injury, but he has played in 15 Championship games and scored 4 goals, plus 2 assists in just 648 minutes on the pitch, a fit Ross Stewart has shown what he can do, but with his contract up this summer, Saints will have a decision to make.
That is because the72.co.uk have reported, the club have an option for a one year extension to the deal.
The decision might well be a difficult one, although on the face of it it looks very cut and dried, that is because a lot will depend on what division that Southampton will be playing in next season.
If the club do not get promoted, then I think it will be an easy decision, we would want a player of his quality in the Championship next season, if he has remained fit and contributed then I think the clause will be invoked.
But if we were to get promotion it could be more tricky, some would say that based on his time at the club in the last 2 2/3 seasons that we should cut our ties now and write it off as a bad deal, but that is based on the past and not what will happen in the next 2 1/2 months.
If we were to be promoted, then there is a good chance that Stewart will have played a big part in that and if he has, then there is a decision to make.
On the face of it a 30 year old with a bad injury record doesn't seem to be good business to succeed in the Premier League and he probably would not be the first choice striker, but if we worded the question differently and assuming that he had say scored 6 goals in the final 14 games of the season and we had the chance to bring in a striker of his quality as back up on a free transfer, we would probably do it.
Essentially that is the situation in the summer do we cut our losses and run or keep him for nothing, I would say that the decision in this scenario would be easy.