da brwin： Southampton finished off their pre-season preparations with a 1-0 loss to Dutch side AZ Alkmaar at St. Mary's on Saturday ahead of next week's Championship opener.
Who have Southampton signed this summer?
da spicy bet： Both of the club's summer signings featured in the defeat as Ryan Manning and Shea Charles lined up at the back for Russell Martin's team.
Manning has been brought in on a free transfer from Swansea, where he worked alongside the Saints head coach last season, and Charles has joined on a permanent deal from Premier League champions Manchester City.
The recently-relegated club still have plenty of time left to make further additions to their squad, though, and have been linked with interest in Sunderland centre-forward Ross Stewart.
He is in the final 12 months of his contract at the Stadium of Light and has rejected the Black Cats' efforts to extend his deal, which has opened the door to a summer transfer.
How many goals has Ross Stewart scored for Sunderland?
The Scotland international has racked up an impressive 40 goals in 80 matches for his current club and could arrive as a fantastic addition to Martin's squad.
His impressive form for Sunderland in the Championship last season, particularly alongside another striker in Ellis Simms, suggests that he has the quality to be an excellent performer for Southampton who could unlock the best out of Adam Armstrong at St. Mary's.
Stewart who was once hailed as "unbelievable" and a "revelation" by teammate Alex Pritchard, racked up ten goals and three assists in 13 second-division matches.
He started six games with Simms as his strike partner and produced five goals along with three assists in that time, which shows that the former Ross County man thrived next to another number nine.
This could make him the perfect signing to complement Armstrong as the former Blackburn Rovers ace excelled next to 6 foot 4 titan Sam Gallagher in the Championship during the 2020/21 campaign.
The English dynamo scored 28 goals and assisted five in 40 league outings for his previous team that season but failed to make the step up to the Premier League with Southampton as he has only plundered five goals in 67 appearances for the club to date.
Armstrong failed to find the back of the net more than twice in each of his two top-flight campaigns with the Saints. However, the ex-Newcastle United man is now back at a level where he has proven himself to be a reliable and prolific scorer.
The 26-year-old scored 44 Championship goals in his final two seasons with Blackburn combined and this suggests that the potential is there for him to be an outstanding option for Southampton, despite his Premier League struggles.
Martin could unlock the best out of his talents by signing Stewart from Sunderland as the 6 foot 2 marksman, who won 49% of his aerial battles last term, is a handful to deal with and a proven scorer who could take some of the attention away from Armstrong in the same way that Gallagher did at Ewood Park.
This could then allow the 5 foot 8 dynamo, who lost 76% of his aerial contests during his last Championship campaign, to go about his business as a huge goal threat without needing to engage in physical battles with opposition defenders.