Saints made a surprise last minute purchase signing on deadline day with Victor Udoh arriving from Royal Antwerp in Belgium, but this is one for the future and not the present, which will lead some supporters to question Sport Republic again.
Victor Udoh is a 20 year old Nigerian forward and he has signed for Southampton on a deal to the summer of 2028, he is a left sided player who can also play down the centre.
His market value is around £500 k, but the fee that Saints are paying is yet to be disclosed.
But he will not be joining the first team squad at Staplewood, he will be joining the U21 side, despite having broken into the Royal Antwerp first team last season and being a regular in the first part of this one, although he has never started a game for the first team.
After what looked like a good start to his career, he has dropped back to the second team at the Belgian club and therefore Saints seem to be buying potential rather than the ready product.
There will be Southampton fans who will not be happy at this and who will see it as yet another stick to beat Sport Republic with, but the fact is just because we haven't been as busy as we would have liked to have been at the top end of the club, it doesn't mean that we should ignore recruitment of youngsters.
This is clearly a cheap gamble for Saints and something that they have been doing long before Sport Republic arrived on the scene, back in the 1960's & 70's for every big name signing, there were several lower profile ones, some have faded from memory, but others have a become successful at the club, there will always be poor signings, but the reality is that the transfer business has to be taken as a bigger picture, it is about paying for itself over time.
We will soon find out if Victor Udoh is a superstar in the making or if he is a another who will make a living in the game, just not at Southampton.