Saints added another striker to the roster after the departure of Danny Ings with the announcement that Adam Armstrong has joined the club on a four year deal from Blackburn Rovers.
Saints Supporters can go into the season with a little more confidence than they felt six days ago when the shock announcement that Danny Ings had signed for Aston Villa hit the headlines, back then some fans took to Social Media to air their displeasure and doubt that the club would reinvest the money.
Ings was a hard man to replace, but Saints have signed two players today to do the job, firstly the news that highly rated Chelsea youngster Armando Broja will join on a season long loan and now the Championship's top scorer from last season Adam Armstrong.
Danny Ings scored 12 of the 21 Premier League goals netted in his partnership with Che Adams , now Adams steps up to the plate and Armstrong and Broja will be looking to make sure that they contribute a dozen goals or maybe more, add the emerging Nathan Tella to the equation and perhaps Theo Walcott and we are not short of striking options for the coming season.
The squad is taking shape, Saints still have some money to spend, there is cause for optimism at last.
The Saints press release read as follows:
Southampton Football Club is delighted to announce it has completed the signing of striker Adam Armstrong from Blackburn Rovers.
A prolific goalscorer with the Championship side, Armstrong moves to St Mary’s on a four-year deal, becoming the second forward to be added to Ralph Hasenhüttl’s squad today, following the arrival of Armando Broja on loan from Chelsea.
Armstrong joins Saints having scored 29 times for Rovers last season, finishing second in the Championship charts, while having the best goals-to-minutes ratio in the division.
The 24-year-old began his career with hometown club Newcastle, then developed further during loan spells with Coventry, Barnsley and Bolton as a youngster, before joining Blackburn in 2018, where he went on to make 139 appearances and score 54 goals.
He has been capped five times at England Under-21 level, while he was part of the Under-20 side that lifted the 2017 World Cup, making four appearances in the tournament, having also previously been in the Young Lions squad that won the 2014 UEFA European Under-17 Championship.
Ralph Hasenhüttl said: "Adam was a big target for us this summer, so we are very pleased to have added him to the squad, especially as there was a lot of interest in him from other clubs too.
"He is at a good stage of his career for him to be coming here. He is a young, dynamic player who has developed well so far and already has good experience, as well as an impressive goalscoring record, and I believe we can now help him realise even more of his potential.
"He will bring a lot of qualities to our team, and he gives us another good option in attack, which will be important for us.”
Adam Armstrong said: "It’s unbelievable to be here — such a massive club with a great fanbase and it’s just something that I’m really looking forward to.
"I thought it was perfect as my next step. I wanted to get back to the Premier League from what I’ve done for Blackburn, so I’m over the moon.”