Taylor Harwood Bellis and Flynn Downes are two of our biggest signings who were here on loan last season.

Yukinari Sugawara, Nathan Wood (Gordon), Ronnie Edwards, Charlie Taylor, and Adam Lallana have also been signed, with Rento Takaoka signing a pre-contract to join us next March 2025 when he turns 18.

Read a bit about each of them below, using the left and right arrows to see each of them.

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Taylor Harwood Bellis

born Stockport, 30 Jan 2002.

Taylor joined the City academy in 2008. Since turning pro in 2019, he has had loans at Blackburn, Anderlecht, and Stoke before consecutive promotion campaigns with Burnley and Saints. His loan deal included an obligation to buy for £20M should we get promoted. Welcome, Taylor! He has over 50 England caps at youth level and captained the U21s when they won last year’s Euros—beating Spain 1-0 in the final.


Spot51 - July 2024


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Flynn Downes

born Brentwood, 29 Jan 1999.

Flynn came through the Ipswich academy, turning pro in 2017. In 2018, he joined Nathan Jones at Luton on loan, helping the Hatters to promotion to League 1. Back at Ipswich, he became a first XI regular and the club’s youngest captain at 20. In 2021, he joined Russ at Swansea, where he had the most completed passes in England’s top 4 leagues. He moved to West Ham, his boyhood club, in 2022. He never won a regular starting spot despite collecting a 2023 winners medal at the Europa final. He came here on loan and was key to getting us back to the Prem at the first attempt. West Ham are trying to bring Kante back from Saudi, so allowing Flynn to move to Saints permanently will give him a real shot at England’s top flight. He has 11 youth-level England caps.


Spot51 - July 2024


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Yukinari Sugawara

born in Toyokawa (Japan) on 28 June 2000.

Yuki joined the youth team at Nagoya Grampus and, 2 months before his professional contract, became the second youngest player in a J1 League match. He played 13 times before being loaned to AZ Alkmaar in 2019. He signed a contract with AZ early in 2020 and has played 12 times for their Youth team and 135 for the First XI. This includes 47 European ties, more than any other AZ player. He also has 21 youth and 13 full caps for Japan.


Spot51 - July 2024


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Nathan Wood (Gordon)

born Stockton on Tees, 31 May 2002.

NWG chooses not to go double-barrelled but is the son of Dean Gordon, who played top-flight football with Palace and Boro. Nat played youth football for Stockton and Boro. He signed a pro contract with Boro and became their youngest player at 16. Despite loans to Crewe and Hibs, Nat never got regular football till he joined Russ at Swansea in 2022. Since then, he has built a reputation as a pacey defender or midfielder and has a total of 26 youth caps for England.


Spot51 - July 2024


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Ronnie Edwards

born Harlow, 28 March 2003.

Ronnie’s football journey began at Barnet aged 9, and his first-team debut came at 16. In 2020, he had a successful trial with Peterboro and, during the next four seasons, established himself as a first-team regular with 143 appearances as a centre-back. He has 23 youth caps for England and won the U19 Euros in 2022. Last season, Peterboro won the EFL trophy, and Ronnie was named League 1 Young Player of the Season.


Spot51 - July 2024


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Charlie Taylor

born York, 18 Sep 1993.

Charley came through Leeds academy and signed as a professional in 2011. Short-term loans and a season at Fleetwood with promotion via the L2 playoffs were followed by a new contract and 104 appearances with Leeds. Normally a left back, Charlie was sometimes deployed at left wing. The 15/16 season was his best, winning both the Yorkshire Evening Post and Leeds fans Player of the Season awards. Linked with EPL clubs, Charlie had a transfer request turned down, but in December 2016, he ruptured his Achilles and never played for Leeds again. EPL Burnley signed Charlie the following Summer, and the clubs agreed compensation of about £7m. He stayed at Turf Moor for 6 seasons, 5 in the EPL and 2023 Champions in tier 2. He made 220 appearances on the left for the Clarets.


Spot51 - July 2024


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Adam Lallana

born St Albans, 10 May 1988.

Adam became “One of our own” in 2000 when he moved from AFCB’s academy to ours. In the early noughties, he played in our FA Youth Cup runs before turning pro in 2006. The following year, he spent a month on loan with AFCB whilst breaking into our first-team squad. He extended his contract in 2008 and became a regular starter from then on. In 2010, he scored at Wembley as we lifted the EFL Trophy and became the first midfielder to score 20 goals since Le Tiss. In 2011 he helped us out of L1 and then featured alongside Kelvin and Rickie in the Championship team of the season as we won promotion back to the EPL. Adam captained Saints for the next 2 seasons and won his first England caps before moving to Liverpool. At Anfield he won the EPL, Champions League, UEFA Super Cup, FIFA Club World Cup and was named England Player of the Year (2016). He then spent 4 seasons with Brighton. Now, back at Saints at 36, he has played 550 games, scoring 86 goals (265 and 60 with us).


Spot51 - July 2024


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Rento Takaoka

born Miyazaki (Japan) 12 March 2007

Rento signed a pre-contract with Saints to join us next March when he turns 18. Till then he will remain at Nissho Gakuen High School and add to his current 10 U17 caps and 5 goals for Japan.


Spot51 - July 2024


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Aaron Ramsdale

born Stoke on Trent, 14 May 1998

England keeper Aaron joined on the eve of the deadline for a fee which could rise to £25M. Growing up in Staffs, he was scouted by Bolton but, in 2013, joined the Sheffield United Academy. In 2016, he signed a professional contract with The Blades but only made 2 FA Cup appearances before moving to AFCB in Jan 2017 for £0.8M. Loans to Chesterfield and Wimbledon saw him suffer relegation with the former but avoid it with the Dons where he was “Young Player of the Year”. In 2019/20, Aaron was 1st choice at Bournemouth in the EPL, winning Man of the Match, Player of the Month and Fans Player of the Season awards. In August 2020, he was sold back to The Blades (for £18.5M), where he played every match and was named both Player and Young Player of the Year. Arsenal signed him on August 21 for £24M, where he established himself as first-choice keeper for two seasons, picking up more awards and appearing in the 2023 EPL Team of the Season. Last season, he lost his place to Raya and played just 11 times. He has 34 Youth and 5 Full England caps.


Spot51 - September 2024


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Cameron Archer

born Walsall, 9 December 2001

Cam joined Villa’s Academy at age eight and played at every youth level. After making his first Senior appearance in 2019, he was loaned to Solihull Moors, Preston and Middlesborough, where he bagged 22 goals in 66 appearances plus 4 in 14 for Villa. Last Summer, he was sold to The Blades for £18M with a buyback clause. He scored four goals in 32 games as United were relegated. Villa exercised their buyback option this June, and Cam had a pre-season with them. With Watkins and Dhuran ahead in the pecking order (and PSR to comply with), Villa accepted our bid for Archer of £15M+, and he signed a 4-year contract.


Spot51 - September 2024


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Mateus Fernandes

born Olhao (Algarve, Portugal), 10 July 2004

After six years with his local club, Olhanense, in 2016, Mat moved to the Capital to join the Academy at Sporting CP. In 2021, he joined the B side, signing as a professional the following season when he made 7 First team appearances, scoring once. For the 23/24 season, he went on loan to fellow Primeira Liga side Estoril, where he played 35 times. With Sporting the current Champions of Portugal (and 6 of their side in the Liga “Team of the Season” opportunities to play looked scarce for Mat. He jumped at the chance to come to Southampton for £12.6M and signed a 5-year deal.


Spot51 - September 2024


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Ben Brereton Dìaz

born Stoke on Trent, 18 April 1999

BBD is the son of an English policeman and a Chilean from Concepcion who worked for Churchill Ceramics in the Potteries. He was at Manchester United from 7 to 14 when he moved to Stoke City. Released at 16, he joined Forest, earning a pro contract at the end of 2016. The following season, he made his 1st team debut, was named Championship Apprentice of the Year and was joint top scorer when England won the U19 Euros in Georgia. After 53 appearances and eight goals, he left Forest on loan at Blackburn for the 18/19 season and moved permanently in January. Blackburn fans launched a campaign to get BB called up by Chile, which was picked up by the press and led to him being selected in 2021 and winning his first cap in the Copa America. From then on, he began learning Spanish and adopted the Spanish way of using both parents' surnames. In his first three seasons at Blackburn, he played 88 games, scoring nine times, but in the next two, he netted 38 times in the same number of matches. He ran down his contract and moved to Villareal on a free basis. Without scoring in 20 outings for the Yellow Submarine, he was loaned to the Blades in January of this year. He managed six goals in 16 games, but United were relegated. Eager to return to the EPL, BBD jumped at the chance to join Saints, and Villareal pocketed £7M.


Spot51 - September 2024


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Ryan Fraser

born Aberdeen, 24 February 1994

Back for another two seasons at Southampton comes Russ’s “Wee Man” after finally escaping the clutches of NUFC. After making a valuable contribution to last year’s promotion campaign Ryan now hopes to help keep us in the top flight. He joined Aberdeen at 16, making his debut in 2010. He refused a contract extension in 2012 and joined AFCB for £400K (development fee) the following year. They moved from Div 1 to the EPL in 3 seasons, but Ryan then spent the 15/16 season on loan at Ipswich. He then spent four top-flight seasons with the Cherries, scoring 18 times in 135 games. Again running his contract down, he moved to Tyneside in 2020, where he scored three goals in 59 appearances till 2023. He came to us last season, and the rest is history.


Spot51 - September 2024


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Maxwel Cornet

born Bregbo, Cote d’Ivoire, 27 September 1996

Max’s family emigrated to Laquenexy in NE France when he was 3. He joined the local club. In 2004, he moved to the Academy at Metz, making his full debut in 2012 (at 15) in the French 3rd tier. Consecutive promotions saw Metz reach Ligue 1, but before playing at the top level, he joined Lyon, making his debut (v Metz) in Jan 2015. Over seven seasons at Lyon, he played 252 games, scoring 51 goals. In the 2019/20 (Covid) season, Max was moved to left back, where he fared well, scoring against Man City as Lyon knocked them out of UCL. He joined Burnley in 2021, scoring nine times in 28 games. He then moved to the London Stadium, but as Moyes strengthened his squad, Max fell further down the pecking order. He did collect a Conference League medal in his first campaign but only played seven times last season. Flynn Downes convinced him to join Saints on loan to regain his mojo.


Spot51 - September 2024


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Lesley Ugochuckwu

born Rennes, France, 26 March 2004

Les has dual French/Nigerian nationality; his uncle played for Rennes and Nigeria. He joined Rennes Academy in 2012 and, after five games for the B team in 2020, was promoted to the Ligue 1 squad, where he made 60 appearances in 3 seasons. In 2023, he joined Chelsea for £23M and made 12 appearances last season. He has 23 youth-level caps for France and played in the French team at the Paris Olympics. Les probably has the highest ceiling of our current squad, and we must enjoy him while we can.


Spot51 - September 2024


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Romeo Akachuckwu

born Ireland, 20 May 2006

Romeo, another youngster with Nigerian roots, also has a proper Irish accent. His football career began at Ferrybank Juniors before joining Waterford, “the only Professional side in Munster”. He moved up through their youth ranks. Waterford were relegated from the Irish Prem in 2021, and Aka moved up to the first team the next season at just 16. As a ball-carrying, goal-scoring midfielder, Aka made a huge impression in the 1st Division and was called up by Eire’s U17 team. They reached the promotion playoffs, and Romeo scored his first hat trick against Athlone in the semi-finals before Waterford beat Cork City in the final. Several large clubs scouted him before deciding to join Saints last February. He remained at Waterford until the Summer before coming here. Although he is part of the PL2 squad, Russ gave him his debut at Cardiff in August (squad # 54), so he may reappear before long.


Spot51 - September 2024


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Joe O’Brien Whitmarsh

born Ireland, 11 May 2005

Another youth player from Ireland, Joe, was on the Cork bench for that playoff final with Waterford. City lost three players to injury, and Joe played from 25m till the end of extra time. Joe joined Cork’s Academy from Fermoy in 2019 and signed professional terms two years later. He became a regular in 2023 and also accepted Saints terms last winter. Another attacking midfielder, Joe, came on at Cardiff (squad #60). He has 2 Eire U19 caps.


Spot51 - September 2024



In and Straight Out Again




Juan Santos Da Silva

born Sao Paulo, Brazil, 7 March 2002

Juan attended several Academies before arriving at Sao Paulo in 2019. His goal-scoring at the U17 level quickly earned him a pro contract, but in 85 senior appearances, he has scored only seven goals. In July, Saints reached an agreement for the player to join us next January, but in August, it was decided he should move now and spend a season on loan at Goztepe, where he has made three appearances.


Spot51 - September 2024



In and Straight Out Again




Kuyru Marsuki

born Muroran, Japan, 30 April 2003

Kuyru joined his local club in Hokkaido at age 7, moving to Aomori Amada High School in 2016. In 2021, he scored in the semi-final and final as his school lifted the All-Japan Soccer trophy. In 2022, he turned professional with FC Tokyo and made 71 J1 League appearances, scoring 7 times in 3 seasons. He has 18 caps at youth level, scoring six and winning the Asian U23 Cup in Qatar this year. He moved to Saints in July and has also gone on loan to Goztepe for the season.


Spot51 - September 2024



In and Straight Out Again




Daouda Traore

born Ivry sur Seine, France, 27 July 2006

Born in the Ile de France to Senegalese and Malian parents, Daouda could play for all three nations. The lanky midfielder spent time with various local clubs before joining the Nice Academy in 2021. He turned pro in 2022 and made 12 appearances for Nice Reserves in French tier 5. Last February, he made his first team debut in a cup win over Montpelier. He has 19 youth caps for France and was in the squad that reached the final of the 2023 U17 Euros in Hungary. Still only 18 when he joined Saints, it was decided to let him remain in France with Tier 3 Valenciennes for this season.


Spot51 - September 2024


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