Bottom-dwelling Southampton remains desperate to arrest the current situation on the south coast at St. Mary’s Stadium during the 2022-23 Premier League season that has seen them, once again, facing the prospect of relegation.
Despite managerial change which saw Saints finally part ways with Ralph Hasenhüttl and replaced the Austrian with former Luton Town boss Nathan Jones in a move that came with a fair degree of justified scrutiny, the club only recently got back to winning ways in the league at the weekend with a 2-1 away win against fellow strugglers Everton at Goodison Park.
It was just their fourth league win of the campaign and their first after a seven-match skid that saw them bag just one point from a possible twenty-one (0-1-6) on the back of a six-match losing streak to cement their place at the league’s base camp, but Southampton remains committed with tackling the January transfer window aggressively in a bid to supply Jones with valuable winter reinforcements in the hopes that the 49-year-old can stem the tide and build on their recent result.
Southampton are not holding back in January and they are in in talks to sign Nicolas Jackson from Villarreal.@90min_Football https://t.co/4YqkqIBgQL
— Graeme Bailey (@GraemeBailey) January 17, 2023
Having already spent a combined £17.5m on a pair of deals for Croatian forward Mislav Oršić and Argentine youngster Carlos Alcaraz, Saints are now said to be turning their attention toward La Liga outfit Villarreal and its 21-year-old forward Nicolas Jackson according to reports in 90min.
Jackson is certainly a name that carries little – if any – recognition among fanbases across England after the Senegalese international only recently broke into the senior team at Estadio de la Cerámica last season, but the Gambian-born forward has come on strong in the current La Liga campaign and has earned 24 appearances across all competitions as a rotational option under manager Quique Setién, including minutes in the UEFA Conference League.
Saints are said to be weighing up the possibility of a £20m bid for Jackson but face two potential stumbling blocks that could stand in their way toward progress. Villarreal has also fielded interest in Dutch winger Arnaut Danjuma, who is said to be tracked by fellow Premier League side Aston Villa, with the Spanish club unwilling to let both players go this winter, leaving Saints in a potential race against time to secure a move should they deem him a suitable acquisition.
