Southampton must win race for Brighton ace with ‘huge potential’ after new transfer blow | OneFootball

Southampton should try to sign Brighton and Hove Albion winger Amario Cozier-Duberry this summer.

Southampton ended their 2025-26 Championship campaign in controversial fashion but The Saints will again be expected to challenge for promotion next season.

Southampton have opted to stand by manager Tonda Eckert, despite the ‘spygate’ scandal which saw the club removed from the Championship play-offs just days before the final, having beaten Middlesbrough after extra-time at St Mary’s in the semi-finals.

Southampton enjoyed an extremely impressive time of it in the second half of last season, propelling themselves into the automatic promotion race while also reaching the semi-finals of the FA Cup, taking the lead in that semi against Manchester City after they had knocked out eventual Premier League winners Arsenal in the quarter-finals.

The Saints are getting back down to business and may use a siege mentality to try and drive themselves forward next season, beginning the campaign on -4 points as further punishment for ‘spygate’.

As they attempt to rejuvenate their squad and tweak some things, they do now appear set to miss out on target Elijah Just, with the New Zealand international set to sign for Swansea City instead.

As a result, Saints will be keen on softening that blow and they should target Brighton and Hove Albion's 'highly-rated' winger Amario Cozier-Duberry, who spent last season on loan at Bolton Wanderers and was tipped to have huge potenial long before that became all-too-clear at League One level.

Amario Cozier-Duberry would be a smart signing by Southampton

Amario Cozier-Duberry is set to spend a chunk of pre-season with Brighton and Hove Albion as The Seagulls determine what to do with the Arsenal academy graduate.

Brighton are in the UEFA Europa Conference League next season and so, naturally, will have a bigger squad, with Cozier-Duberry potentially forming a part of that.

He has, however, also been linked with a move to West Ham United – who are expected to challenge for the title next season but that move may now be on the backburner after captain Jarrod Bowen, another left-footed right-winger, confirmed he would be staying at the London Stadium.

Bolton boss Steven Schumacher didn’t rule out Wanderers attempting to re-sign Cozier-Duberry but has encouraged the former Blackburn Rovers loanee to showcase his abilities to Fabian Hurzeler first and foremost.

Cozier-Duberry spent last season on loan at Bolton and won The Trotters’ Young Player of the Year award as they finally gained promotion out of League One, hammering Stockport County by four goals to one in the play-off final at Wembley Stadium.

Cozier-Duberry was immense throughout their play-off campaign, which also saw him score the winning goal in the first-leg of their play-off semi-final against Bradford City.

The 21-year-old attacker sparked excitement with his performances in pre-season immediately after joining Bolton and he then went on to deliver with consistency in League One.

A brace of goals and a brace of assists in a 4-0 demolition of Port Vale in November had seen Cozier-Duberry race to six goals and seven assists in his first 15 appearances in the league for The Whites before a dip in form before the turn of the year was then followed by a two-and-a-half-month injury sustained in late-January.

Cozier-Duberry, who had shown durability to come through the rough and tumble of an EFL winter and then resilience to recover from what could have been a season-ending knee injury to make a difference for Bolton when it mattered most, has headed into this summer one of the most sought-after youngsters in the EFL – with reported interest also coming from Belgium, France and Germany.

Amario Cozier-Duberry can produce moments of magic for Southampton

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Amario Cozier-Duberry did spend a less than impressive stint at Bolton’s Lancastrian rivals Blackburn in the Championship but that was a Rovers side that played a very different style of football to how Bolton played last year.

The robust and direct approach of Valerien Ismael wasn’t suited to Cozier-Duberry, especially as he tried to make his way into professional football with his first stint at first-team level, although he did still manage to show flashes of his technical brilliance.

At Bolton, he played for an intense and attack-minded side led by Schumacher that is more akin to how Southampton will continue to intend to play in the Championship.

Players thrive in the right environments and players of Cozier-Duberry’s ability should only excite supporters, especially at the age of just 21 and with all of his development still to come, despite already showing he can be effective in high-pressure situations.

Southampton did impress with the system-based approach of Tonda Eckert and perhaps the one critique would be a lack of off-the-cuff ingenuity, which is something that Cozier-Duberry provides in abundance.

Even though it would be a step up, it is inevitable that Cozier-Duberry will be playing in the second-tier at the very least in the 2026-27 campaign – and Southampton should ensure they do not feel envious of whoever Cozier-Duberry does sign for, instead ensuring that they are the ones to reap the rewards of what would remain a fairly low risk deal.

So far this summer, Southampton have added Lewis Dobbin to their attacking ranks, a player capable of getting in behind and stretching the play, and the focus should now be on a forward that wants the ball to his feet with the ability to unlock defences and launch attacks from almost nothing.

A scorer of stunning goals and producer of magical moments at Bolton, Cozier-Duberry’s trajectory is upwards and Southampton should pounce on him because it could be the only summer in which a Championship club can lure him.