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.