An update has emerged on Southampton and their plans to bolster their playing squad ahead of the 2023/24 Championship campaign…
What's the latest Southampton transfer news?
According to talkSPORT, the Saints are the favourites to secure a deal to sign Norwich City right-back Max Aarons before the end of the summer transfer window.
The report claims that the club are 'lining' up a swoop for the England U21 international to potentially replace Tino Livramento at St. Mary's.
This comes amid The Northern Echo stating that Newcastle United are set to make a renewed effort to land the former Chelsea academy prodigy from Southampton. His exit would leave a vacant spot in the squad for Aarons to potentially come in and fill.
How good is Max Aarons?
The Canaries starlet is an experienced defender in spite of the fact that he is only 23.
Aarons has made 213 first-team appearances for Norwich throughout his career to date, which includes 70 Premier League matches, and has been capped a whopping 27 times by England at U21 level.
Bringing the full-back in would be a masterclass of a move by Russell Martin as the Saints head coach could use his connections with his former club to secure a fantastic signing.
Martin, who once played alongside Aarons in a U23 match for Norwich, spent nine years at Carrow Road and Southampton could now benefit from his relationship with the Yellows.
Signing the former Luton Town academy prospect could ease the possible blow of losing Livramento as he has proven himself to be capable of excelling in a promotion-winning team at this level.
Aarons has been promoted as a title-winner in the Championship twice in his career and caught the eye with his displays during their 2020/21 success.
The £29k-per-week full-back averaged a Sofascore rating of 6.97 across 45 appearances as he created 1.4 chances per game, which would have placed him second within the Saints squad last term, as he helped his team to keep 17 clean sheets.
Livramento, who has never played at Championship level, averaged a Sofascore rating of 6.85 across 28 top-flight matches during the 2021/22 campaign and created just 0.7 chances per match from right-back to illuminate just how creative Aarons was in comparison.
This suggests that the potential is there for the young right-back to come in as an upgrade on the 20-year-old talent.
Livramento has also missed 47 competitive matches through injury since January 2022 and it remains to be seen whether or not he will be able to steer clear of further issues with his knee after a cruciate ligament rupture.
Whereas, Aarons, who was once hailed as "outstanding" by former England U21 boss Aidy Boothroyd, has only been absent for two games throughout his entire professional career with Norwich to date, which came due to an ankle injury in 2019.
The Saints target is an ultra-reliable player who has played in the Premier League and knows how to get out of the Championship, whilst still having room to develop and grow.
Therefore, Martin could pull off a blinder by using his connections to seal a deal for the young defender, who has the ability and pedigree to be a phenomenal signing.