Ralph Hasenhuttl can stamp his mark on the Southampton roster by offloading James Ward-Prowse and upgrading his striker options by bringing in Andre Gray.
What’s the word?
Hasenhuttl should look to reignite Watford’s interest in Ward-Prowse in his search for a new striker, as Shane Long, Charlie Austin and Manolo Gabbiadini continue to falter in the Premier League.
The Hornets bid a reported £10million for the England midfielder’s services in the summer, despite having a multitude of options to call on in Etienne Capoue, Tom Cleverley, Abdoulaye Doucoure and Nathaniel Chalobah.
The long-term injury that kept Cleverley out of action until mid-December and growing speculation over Doucoure’s future could now tempt the high-flying side into returning to their summer intrigue and in doing so, open the door for Gray to head the other way.
The former Burnley hitman has not started since his side’s 2-0 defeat away to Arsenal on September 29, with a 35-minute cameo away to Leicester the most time he’s spent on the pitch since October 6.
TransferMarkt currently values the 27-year-old at £13.5million, the exact same as Ward-Prowse.
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Would Gray be an upgrade?
Unlike Austin and Gabbiadini, Gray possesses far more energy and ability to hassle the opposition, and those qualities will be key to whoever leads the line for Hasenhuttl given his desire for a high-pressing side.
Long is able to feature in that respect, but the 31-year-old has never netted more than ten goals in a Premier League campaign when used as a striker – in his debut Saints campaign in 2015/16.
In the right system, Gray would be able to return to his prolific Burnley days, where he netted 23 times and created a further eight goals in 41 games on route to Premier League promotion – going on to fire home nine times in 31 PL games.
Playing in the right system has helped Danny Ings return to a strong vein of form, and it could be the same situation for Gray.
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