According to results of a YouGov poll published in October 2020, Southampton supporters were the most optimistic of any Premier League fanbase heading into last season.
Nine months on, we can only wonder whether things are quite as cheery on the South Coast these days, with five weeks until the club’s top-flight opener against Everton at Goodison Park.
Ryan Bertrand has gone, Jannik Vestergaard is going and, with Danny Ings turning down the chance to become the club’s best-paid player, Ralph Hasenhuttl and co suddenly find themselves preparing for life without their most naturally gifted footballer, dressing room leader, and reliable source of goals (The Athletic).
And while Southampton are standing firm – insisting the England international won’t be sold before the end of August (talkSPORT) – it would be foolish, nay negligent, to hide behind your hands and hope the problem will go away.
The facts are these. Ings will be a free agent in 12 months’ time and this transfer window is the last chance Southampton have to avoid losing their £20 million talisman either on a free or for a knock-down sum in January.
Will Danny Ings join Tottenham, West Ham or Everton?
Premier League rivals Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham United and Manchester City have all been linked, while The Mirror (16 May, back page) suggests Ings has been identified as someone capable of easing the crushing burden on Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s shoulders at Everton.
But while Saints supporters could be forgiven for letting frustration get the better of them – the club rescued Ings from his Anfield nightmare, standing by a man whose career has been littered with injury problems – there’s an acknowledgement that all good things must come to an end.
Southampton lost 15 of their past 21 Premier League games, a side that was top for a brief and glorious 24 hours in October finishing a miserable 15th.
And, as Ings stormed off the Old Trafford turf in January, another 9-0 hammering on his CV, who could blame one of the division’s most talented number nines if he felt he deserved better than that?
Here’s what some Southampton fans on Twitter had to say about the situation:
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