Apparently Saints have already had two bids for Swansea City central defender Nathan Wood and are now lining up a third, but if this the right man to be signing for the coming Premier League campaign.

Russell Martin is a long term admirer of Nathan Wood and indeed was the man who signed him for Swansea City in June 2022 for a fee believed to be in the region of £500k.

He had previously tried to sign him for MK Dons when he was the manager there, Wood had started with Middlesbrough, but been knocked back.

Now it seems that Martin is again looking to sign the player, at least according to the72.co.uk who report that Saints are about to attempt for a third time to sign the 22 year old central defender.

It is unclear when the first two attempts were made and it is believed that at least one of them was last season.

But is Wood the man for Saints ? Yes he fits the Russell Martin blueprint, he is fast & pacy and can play the ball, but at 22 and with a current value of around £5 million, the question is whether he is genuine class or just a cheap option, being unproven at the highest level.

As it stands Saints will have three central defenders in Taylor Harwood-Bellis, Jan Bednarek & Jack Stephens, they also have Nico Lawrence who at 20 the club have high hopes for, his loan spell at Colchester United was cut short when he suffered an ankle injury after just 4 1/2 games in League Two, I would be surprised if he was ready for this season.

What Southampton need in the centre of defence is experience & leadership, not an unproven youngster.

Of course he might well be a cheap option with just a year left on his contract at Swansea, but the jury is out on Russell Martin's former Swansea players, Flynn Downes was a definite success and is Premier League standard, but Ryan Manning had a hit and miss season, I am not as big a critic as some of the left back, but I would be surprised if he can make the step up to the Premier League.

I think there is a good chance of Nathan Wood being a Saints player, if it happens I think we have to accept it for what it is, signing players for the squad, rather than as genuine first choice players.

Photo: Action Images

derbydog added 09:16 - Jun 17 You have forgotten the three centre halves returning from loan spells. They all seem much of a muchness except of course for TBH. Commentators’ nightmare if Harwood Bellis plays alongside Dujetta Carr!
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DellBoyWally added 14:05 - Jun 17 I can't imagine Swansea selling us the club cat while the legal wrangles continue! Nick, you say Wood is young and untested at the highest level. Do you mean like THarwood-Bellis??? JanB did have some good games in the PL but Stephens was out of his depth (and usually out the team spending time out on loan) Lawrence is prime for another, hopefully more successful, loan but certainly one for the future, maybe JanB's replacement in time. We seem to have had this argument on here before - an older (wiser?) CB to steady the line. Your suggestions last time were mocked on here. But the teams those players went to stayed up; were went down!! 1-0 to Nick (and me!!)

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DellBoyWally added 16:47 - Jun 17 Or how about taking Rodon from under Leeds Utd's nose? HaHa! But greedy Spuds would be asking way too much. £12 to £15m when worth under £10m
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underweststand added 17:16 - Jun 17 Dealing with Spurs has always been a minefield (DellBoyWally) and Daniel Levy is a master of getting the last drop of blood out of every Tottenham deal that he oversees. Not sure if Rodon is right for us, but Russell Martin is best placed to know Wood - perhaps even more than our scouts. Even if we retain one of the loans - when they get back , IMHO you can never have too many CB's.

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DellBoyWally added 20:48 - Jun 17 uws we did ok with KWP, think we were the winners there but your points are well made
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Monksway added 16:58 - Jun 18 I think from RM's perspective Stephens and Bednarek tick the "experienced PL central defenders box". So I think the fourth centre back has to be one currently in development and not necessarily first choice. £5-8 million on Wood seems plausible.
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underweststand added 05:47 - Jun 19 Agree (Dell Boy Wally) that KWP was a good deal for us, but Levy screwed us on the deal for Höjbjerg who was clearly worth much more that 18 mill. at that stage of his career. The irony is that, Spurs have squandered more than 60 mill. in trying to find a suitable RB, without success and if " the rumoured buy-back clause " does exist , then Spurs can get KWP back for around 30 mill. (an absolute steal in the current market, as his form in the last 2 seasons has been excellent and even got him international recognition). we will get screwed and Spurs will win again.

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