Southampton have made a number of impressive captures ahead of the new Premier League season with the likes of Ben Brereton-Diaz entering through the door, on top of Flynn Downes and Taylor Harwood-Bellis also returning for good after exceptional loan spells.
But, there's still a problem area for the Saints to address, with Gavin Bazunu out as the main goalkeeper for Russell Martin's men until 2025, after a serious Achilles tendon injury stopped him in his tracks last campaign on the way to promotion being sealed.
With a new central midfielder in the form of Mandela Keita reportedly on the agenda, Southampton must also prioritise a new 'keeper to challenge Alex McCarthy's newly obtained first-team spot.
Southampton looking at new shot-stopper
A report by Italian outlet TuttoMercatoWeb last Sunday speculated that the Saints are looking at Lazio shot-stopper Christos Mandas as an option between the sticks, with the aforementioned Bazunu resigned to the St. Mary's treatment room for the foreseeable.
Wolverhampton Wanderers also are keen on the Greek 'keeper from the Premier League, with Gary O'Neil's men even reportedly fielding a £17m bid to the Serie A side recently, to presumably test the waters over whether a potential bumper switch could take place.
It remains to be seen whether Lazio will allow Mandas to leave, who has performed admirably for the Italian titans when shoved into the first-team, hence this frenzied interest emerging from Southampton and Wolves.
What Mandas could offer Southampton
This could end up being more of a statement purchase from the perspective of the South Coast outfit than Fotis Ioannidis, a rumoured target of late.
Indeed, Southampton are already well stocked in the striker department with the likes of Brereton-Diaz, Adam Armstrong and even Sekou Mara being available for selection up top.
Whereas, numbers are arguably short in goal, so Mandas joining would be a better buy as they attempt to keep goals out of the net – as opposed to scoring them – moving up to the tougher division.
The promising 22-year-old 'keeper could even end up usurping Bazunu's fixed first-team spot when the ex-Manchester City man is back to full fitness, looking at his numbers for Lazio last season when chucked in at the deep end.
Purchased from his native Greece just last year, the 6 foot 2 shot-stopper has managed to amass an impressive total of six clean sheets from 12 games playing for Lazio to date, shipping only nine goals in the process.
Minutes played
90
Saves
3
Goals prevented
1.45
Clean sheet
1
Touches
46
Accurate passes
26/37 (70%)
Accurate long balls
9/19
Mandas stood out on the final day of the last Serie A campaign, starting as the main option in goal and justifying his first-team spot with a clean sheet successfully won come the end of the 2-0 victory.
Bazunu, on the contrary, would find keeping the ball out of the net in the Championship a trickier task overall, with a poor 54 goals leaked from 41 league games despite promotion being sealed.
Also starring in Greece before making a major move to Marco Baroni's giants a reality, the time could be right for Mandas to test himself in another challenging division, especially when you cast an eye over McCarthy's uninspiring numbers playing in the Premier League in the past.
The experienced Saints number one has only accumulated 30 clean sheets in the top-flight from 147 career contests, with a worrying 246 goals shipped, as Martin now looks towards Mandas as a new breath fresh of air that could work over persisting with the ageing shot-stopper.
This will be an interesting selection conundrum for Martin to solve, and one that will need to be addressed quickly, more so than the central striking berth, as Southampton now prepare to travel to Newcastle United this coming Saturday to finally get their Premier League campaign up and running.
Forget Skipp: Southampton moving to sign "exceptional" midfielder
Southampton could forget about signing Oliver Skipp by picking up this gem instead.
ByKelan SarsonAug 14, 2024
