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According to The Mirror, Southampton have made an offer of £8 million for the services of Birmingham City forward Che Adams.
The fact that the south coast outfit have tabled a bid suggests Ralph Hasenhuttl wants to bolster the Saints’ attacking contingent during this January transfer window, and bringing Adams to St Mary’s Stadium would give his frontline the boost it needs.
Such a move would also suggest that the south coast club are reverting back to the transfer market principles that proved so successful years ago. They used to sign young players with big potential – the £10 million acquisition Sadio Mane in 2014 is a good example.
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Since then, though, they’ve increasingly relied upon swooping for struggling, but more experienced, players, such as Manolo Gabbiadini bought from Napoli for £14 million 2017. This system has not worked so well, and Southampton now find themselves mired in a Premier League relegation dogfight for the second season running.
However, in Adams they may have found an exciting young attacker capable of firing them closer to safety this season. His stats so far this Championship season – taken from WhoScored – suggest that he has the potential to shine in the top flight.
The 22-year-old striker has made 28 league appearances so far this campaign – 25 of which have come as part of the starting XI. The former England under-20 international has scored 14 goals, making him Birmingham’s top scorer so far.
As well as producing end product, there have been plenty of positives to Adams’ all-round play too. His average of 2.1 shots per match and 1.3 key passes per game demonstrates that he can be a creative force as well as a finisher.
However, his record of averaging 2.7 unsuccessful touches per game suggests that he may struggle with the intensity of the Premier League, where players are often pressurised on the ball very quickly. Adams has the potential to improve in this area though and can rise to the challenge of the top tier.
If Southampton were to sign the Birmingham No. 9 then it could go down as one of the best bits of business done in this January transfer window.