Promotion may have actually ended £60m man’s Southampton career before it’s even got started

Promotion may have actually ended £60m man’s Southampton career before it’s even got started

For a player who cost £10 million last summer,

Southampton’s first-ever return to the Premier League may not be good news.

Following a fourth-place Championship finish, Russell Martin’s Southampton team secured promotion through the play-offs, capping up a successful first season in charge.

The 38-year-old accomplished this after a mass departure brought on by the team’s 2023

Premier League relegation; building a team prepared for a fight for promotion is a difficult undertaking.

Ross Stewart was one player brought in to be a major part of that,

but he only played four games for the Saints after suffering an achilles injury upon arrival and then a hamstring problem two games into his comeback.

Southampton Maybe Ross Stewart’s gamble won’t pay off.
Undoubtedly, Southampton took a chance last summer when they paid £60 million to sign Stewart from Sunderland.

In addition to missing games since January due to an achilles ailment

that would not heal until November,

he had only participated in 13 Championship games.

While it was true that he had tallied ten goals and

provided three assists in those thirteen games,

there was no assurance that this was anything more than a rare run of good fortune.

He was very much a player for the here and now, and at 27,

it wasn’t like the Saints were signing a player with a ton of promise;

his arrival was anticipated to produce the goals that would propel Southampton back into the Premier League.

In the end, the team accomplished it without the Scotland striker,

and they would probably never be able to enjoy the benefits of the eight-figure contract.

Southampton wants strikers with Premier League experience despite Stewart’s return.

Although Stewart will undoubtedly be retained for the upcoming season

and has the potential to make an impact in the Premier League, Martin is clearly looking for a top-tier goal scorer this summer.

Martin might have believed he could trust Stewart to lead the line

the following season if he had a season in the Championship scoring frequently for

the Saints, but at this point in his career, he is still a raw talent.

Hence, considering that Che Adams’ contract is about to expire at

the end of June, it would be a grave mistake to not recruit at least one striker,

with two arrivals being more plausible.

Stewart’s campaign has been extremely frustrating,

and no one is more dissatisfied with how it has lost more than the athlete in question.

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