Southampton ‘to miss out’ on biggest late deal since Leo Scienza, with Zach Abbott likely only addition | OneFootball

Southampton’s deadline-day thrill looks muted, with a late marquee deal now unlikely. According to the Daily Echo, Nottingham Forest defender Zach Abbott looks set to be the only arrival today as he finalises a loan-to-buy move.

That dampens hopes of a repeat of last year’s Leo Scienza drama, when the Brazilian joined in the final moments from Heidenheim for around £7.8m. He has 20 goal contributions from 49 Saints appearances to date.

Saints have previous for deadline-day fireworks. Sadio Mane arrived from RB Salzburg in 2014 and swiftly lit up the Premier League, while Toby Alderweireld also joined that day on loan from Atletico Madrid and became a firm favourite.

Business was left late last summer too, with Finn Azaz signed on 29 August and now central to Eckert’s attack. He and Scienza dazzled in the recent 5-1 win over Millwall.

Talk of a swoop for Viking centre-back Henrik Falchener had persisted after an earlier bid was rejected, but a deal now appears to have stalled unless that report is wide of the mark. The Norwegian scored six league goals last season and has helped Viking reach the forthcoming Champions League, so he might have challenged for Taylor Harwood-Bellis’s role. Instead, Southampton must hope Abbott delivers on loan without a last-gasp splash.

Source: Sainstmarching.com

“Artificial intelligence was used to assist in creating this article based on reporting from the original source quoted.”