Southampton have endured a long summer of outgoing transfer business as Russell Martin’s squad has been picked apart throughout the window.
Who has left Southampton this summer?
The Saints have decided to cash in on a number of their players; including Romeo Lavia, Ibrahima Diallo, Tino Livramento, James Ward-Prowse, Mohammed Salisu, and Mislav Orsic.
Centre-back Duje Caleta-Car has also been allowed to leave on loan, whilst Theo Walcott, Mohamed Elyounoussi, and Willy Caballero have all departed on free transfers.
Martin could now dip into the market before next week’s deadline in order to bolster his side, and the Scottish head coach has recently been linked with a swoop for West Ham United full-back Ben Johnson.
How good is Ben Johnson?
The 23-year-old dynamo is a versatile and promising young defender who could instantly replace Livramento at St. Mary’s Stadium, after his move to Newcastle United earlier this month.
Johnson is a right-back by trade but has played at least 13 career games as a centre-back, left-back, and right-midfielder to date, which shows that Martin could utilise him in a variety of ways.
Kyle Walker-Peters is the current first-choice right-back but the Hammers youngster could come in to put pressure on the former Tottenham Hotspur ace, which would provide healthy competition for places, or replace him outright as he has also been linked with a surprise move to Arsenal.
Last season, Johnson, who was once described as “immense” by former West Ham defender Anton Ferdinand, caught the eye with his Europa Conference League performances.
The £33k-per-week titan averaged an impressive Sofascore rating of 7.15 across six appearances in the competition as he made 2.9 tackles and interceptions per game and won 64% of his duels.
He only started nine top-flight matches last season. However, the talented youngster did average a Sofascore rating of 6.89 over 16 starts throughout the previous campaign.
Livramento, on the other hand, did not start a single Premier League match for Southampton last term but did average a Sofascore rating of 6.85 across 25 top-flight starts during the 2021/22 campaign.
Walker-Peters, meanwhile, started 30 league matches last season and averaged a dismal Sofascore rating of 6.59.
The ex-Spurs graduate made 2.9 tackles and interceptions per match but only won 52% of his individual battles, which suggests that Johnson could offer more quality in terms of the average standard of his performances as well as his physical strength.
Walker-Peters has averaged a superb Sofascore rating of 7.37 across three Championship matches for Southampton so far this season, which is the seventh-best score within the squad.
This shows that the drop down to the second division has allowed the 26-year-old talent to thrive.
Now, imagine what Johnson could do with the same opportunity after his impressive Premier League and Europa Conference League displays in comparison to Walker-Peters’ outings at the top level in recent years.
The Hammers ace could excel at a lower standard of football and be an excellent option for Martin at the back with his ability to consistently win possession back for the side efficiently, using his strength.
This is why he could be an excellent loan signing for the Saints to finally replace Livramento and provide Walker-Peters with competition before the deadline.
