It's been on the cards for the past week or so, but Saints have finally announced that they have signed Romeo Lavia from Manchester City, as they pursue their strategy of snapping up some of the best young talent from the top clubs in England.

Saints transfer strategy under Sport Republic is becoming quite clear, it is about picking up youngsters from the likes of City, Chelsea and Liverpool etc who are ready for the Premier League, but are unable to force themselves into the first team squads of those clubs, the situation being that you have to be an exceptional talent to be able to force out the players signed at great expense.

This is a good strategy if it is worked properly, but it should be noted that if you get in inexperienced youngsters, especially in defence then you need players alongside them who are leaders and able to guide them through tough Premier League matches.

So far in the past few years Saints have lacked those sort of players in key positions and it is vital that we bring in a few leaders if these youngsters are to flourish.

Saints have announced the arrival of Romeo Lavia saying this:

Southampton Football Club is delighted to announce it has completed the signing of 18-year-old midfielder Roméo Lavia from Manchester City on a five-year contract.

A Belgium Under-21 international, Lavia was on the books of Anderlecht in his homeland from the age of eight, before joining City at 16.

Last summer he began training with Pep Guardiola’s first team, making his senior debut as a starter in a 6-1 victory over League One side Wycombe in the Carabao Cup.

His second and final first-team appearance for the Premier League champions came as a substitute at Swindon in the FA Cup third round in January.

A tenacious ball-winning midfielder, Lavia becomes Saints’ fourth signing of the summer following the arrivals of goalkeepers Gavin Bazunu and Mateusz Lis, and defender Armel Bella-Kotchap.

Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhüttl said: “Roméo is an extremely talented young player at the start of his career who is open-minded and wants to learn and develop his game with us.

“We are very excited to sign him ahead of many other interested clubs. It proves that we have a positive reputation for improving young players, which we have worked hard to build up over the years.

“Roméo is coming from one of the best teams in the world, learning from the best manager and the best players. Now it is up to him to show us why he deserves to play in the Premier League, as we hope to help take his game to the next level.”

Roméo Lavia said: “I’m really delighted to join this club. I think this club has a really good culture with young players, so I’m really happy to be here.

“When I heard of the interest of Southampton I was buzzing because there’s an opportunity for young players to develop as much as possible and I’m very excited.”

This is Saints 4th summer signing so far and it has seen them lay out around £35 million without yet selling a player, there are some signs that now Saints are ready to move forward under the new owners.

Photo: Action Images

Colburn added 22:26 - Jul 6 I doubt the young signings will be on huge wages and we've got Forster's massive wage off the bill which will help and Long has gone. I'm not sure you'll get the signings of experience you're hoping for. It seems we are building a young team around those who are still here who have experience. Aribo is a little more seasoned and it looks like he'll be announced by the weekend. We still need 2 strikers and our owners should spare as much of the remaining kitty in trying to bring Broja in. Dennis is another I'd like to see us go for.

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StEdmund added 22:31 - Jul 6 5 subs next season means that Saints need a strong bench, even if it means buying in inexperienced players at relatively low cost. Depth of squad will desperately be needed.
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SaintNick added 22:31 - Jul 6 There is no genuine leader at the club and that is the problem, there are plenty out there on the cheap, it doesn't need to be a player who will play every game, just someone who can play when it is needed and can bring players on, they did it with the B team in bringing in Olly Lancashire, they need to do the same in the first team
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felly1 added 22:34 - Jul 6 Good luck Romeo, welcome to the club. As a young man he no doubt will have some developing to do mentally and physically. Fingers crossed he turns out to be a real gem and the fans be appreciate they'll be ups and downs for a guy this age. Personally I think we have enough senior pros in the club already to help guide the youngsters along. It's unlikely we'll bring in some highly experienced Premiership defender as bigger, richer clubs than us would want those sorts of players and they wouldn't care that there's no re-sale value on them whilst our aims are the complete opposite. Either that or we gamble on some old Championship warhorse who will shout, cajole, cuddle and shake his fists at the other players whilst being 2 yards off the pace of the game and will give the ball a good welly forwards. Footballs not played like that these days.

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felly1 added 22:44 - Jul 6 I also think the dream player you're after Nick is already at the club. An experienced defender 150 plus games in the Premier league. As you pointed he may not be required to play in all games. Your old buddy Jackie Stephens. According to my mate who's a steward up in the Northam end, during lock down and the empty stadium, he said the only Stephens was the loudest voice on the pitch cajoling and encouraging the team. Possibly why Saints keep giving him contracts when his talent is fairly modest?

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wrathoftazz added 22:44 - Jul 6 I think it's great that we are getting these young players in but only if we have people to lead them in their positions. Forgetting the players though, let's not forget that it was Ralph who directly cost us games, through subs, tactical decisions and playing players out of position. I'm praying that with a decent number 2 that will now change but honestly, I can't see it. The advice will be there but will he take it? Also 5 subs!! That will be a busy last TEN minutes of every match

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Monksway added 23:05 - Jul 6 Surely the "project" approach giving young players time to c develop means that Tella, Perraud, Salisu, Adams, Adam Armstrong must now show their ability next season. If they don't/ can't then the strategy doesn't work.
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underweststand added 08:36 - Jul 7 Good opening post " Colburn", you got all the key details absolutely right. With Lavia already on board - and perhaps Aribo - and a few more to come, it's clear that they won't all be in the starting line-up straight away, but with the possibility of using 5 subs, we can expect to see some of them getting regular game time - sooner or later. Good to see that our new ownership are carefully selecting young talents and not lashing out tens of millions on just one player. The real interest will be guessing just who will depart from the existing playing staff, as there won't be room for everyone on the bench.

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PeterL22 added 10:05 - Jul 8 Astute comment wrathoftazz- Ralph hasn’t got a clue about substitutions! My main worry about “developing “ young players (and selling them on at a profit) is that it’s a gamble with PL place. We do risk relegation if we don’t get it right. That would stop the youngsters wanting to come to Southampton to be “developed “. There are times when you need to actually spend more on established players to get results!

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