Southampton should raid Stockport County for stellar defender | OneFootball

Southampton should make a move to sign Stockport County centre-back Ethan Pye in the January transfer window.

Southampton have endured a mixed start to the season, following their humiliating relegation from the Premier League last year, and they will be heading into the January transfer window surely with ideas of strengthening in key positions.

Their poor start to the campaign led to the sacking of Will Still but the appointment of interim boss Tonda Eckert has been a positive step with some good form being shown, albeit they did most recently suffer a 3-2 loss to Millwall at The Den.

Eckert has gone with a back three shape for Saints since he took the reins and, with suggestions he may well get the job on a permanent basis, if they were to stick with that system, then a move for Stockport County defender Ethan Pye would make a lot of sense.

Saints experienced a frustrating summer transfer window which burst into life in terms of incomings very late on, as a result of outgoing business being concluded in mid-to-late-August.

The likes of Finn Azaz, Tom Fellows and Leo Scienza all arrived as part of a recruitment drive that appeared to be ideal for a back three shape, but Still was reluctant to stick with a system for more than a couple of games at a time.

Eckert has helped clarify things for Southampton, but there are still areas of the squad that require improvement and the centre of defence certainly falls into that category, with a move for Pye seeming an ideal shift.

Ethan Pye can challenge Jack Stephens

Club captain Jack Stephens has had his critics at Southampton, but the 31-year-old has been a good servant for the club, despite often being loaned out in his younger days and even as recently as the 2022/23 campaign.

The former England youth international is a very solid defender, perhaps shown best by having an average of one block per game, which is 0.3 more than the next Saints defender in the Championship so far this season, according to FotMob.

He has also developed as a ball-playing defender, having come through the progressive Southampton academy and also had those types of coaches to work under, most notably Russell Martin, and he remains the fourth most successful passer in the Saints side.

In fact, the top four players in terms of pass success rate for Southampton are all centre-backs, with Ronnie Edwards leading the way ahead of Taylor Harwood-Bellis and Nathan Wood.

All of a similar profile in that regard, the fact that Saints have still struggled this season would be suggestive of the fact that they can play a certain way but perhaps not to a high level, with a fairly low ceiling.

Pye is an extremely exciting prospect that would certainly arrive at St Mary’s with a potentially very high ceiling to challenge Stephens, who is currently occupying the left centre-back role, for the medium-to-long-term, as well as this season.

Capable of pushing forward with the ball and beginning attacks in that manner but also as adept as a last-ditch recovery tackle and beating the striker to the ball, Pye appears to be the full package as a defender and, in a back three at a higher level, Southampton would be the ideal destination for his own development.

Ethan Pye would be a brilliant signing for Southampton

In the summer, it was reported that Championship clubs were interested in Ethan Pye, such as Blackburn Rovers, but the 22-year-old Rochdale academy graduate, who already has well over 100 appearances for Stockport, stayed put at Edgeley Park.

The intention then, and surely does remain, that he would remain with County to try and push them into the second-tier, having made his first-team debut for the club when they were in the National League.

Next summer will see Pye head into the final 12 months of his current deal, though, at Stockport, and there will be a desire for the smartly run and wealthy club to maximise the value of their prized asset at the back.

It may displease Dave Challinor and the Stockport fanbase but it also wouldn’t be a surprise for Stockport to opt to sell Pye with 18 months left on his deal, rather than into the final year.

As a result, clubs may circle this winter and Southampton should try and put themselves right at the front of the queue in that regard, with Saints a good landing spot to nurture Pye’s talents, especially if Eckert was to stay.

His reading of the game is best shown by the fact he is third for interceptions per 90 minutes, with 2.1 per game and only two midfielders, a position whereby making an interception is more common due to the higher level of traffic, Alex Pattison and Aymen Benarous, ahead of him in that statistic in League One.

He is second for the most successful tackles at Stockport so far this season, while also winning 100 duels, making himself out as one of the very best defenders in the division.

However, he is also on the front foot in terms of possession, too, thus suiting Southampton’s style, with the second most touches of any Stockport player, and the most combined accurate long balls and successful passes.