Southampton have completed the signing of Charlie Austin from QPR for a fee of £4 million and the 26-year-old striker might just prove to be one of the bargains of the January transfer window.
Southampton manager Ronald Koeman is looking to add more scoring power to his team who are currently sitting in tenth position on the table.
Charlie Austin is the man who fits the bill perfectly to fire the Saints up the table in the second half of the season.
In the previous year, many clubs had been linked with signing Austin, and many pundits expected him to leave QPR at the end of last season when the club was relegated to the Championship. But a move never materialised.
Last season saw Austin score 18 goals, which had him ranked fourth on the list of top scorers for the Premier League and led to Austin’s first call-up to the England squad. Austin’s goalscoring form has continued in the Championship with 10 goals in 16 appearances this campaign.
Possibly the only concerns over the deal will be the rumours around a knee issue that Austin has supposedly carried for some time and what wages Austin will be paid. While at Burnley a deal was agreed for Austin to join Hull in 2013, but it collapsed after a failed medical.
Not many details were released at the time, but shortly after QPR were happy to sign Austin after they completed a medical of their own. One person who has commented recently, however, is West Ham chairman David Sullivan, who was urged to sign Austin at the time and was criticised by West Ham fans for not going after the striker.
“He [Austin] failed a medical at Hull a couple of years ago. They say he has no ligaments in his knee, who knows,” Sullivan said.
Austin is currently recovering from a hamstring injury, but is expected to be available for selection in the coming week.
Time will tell if the deal is a good one for Southampton. But in this day and age a transfer fee of £4 million is probably considered low risk when you see some of the extravagant fees some clubs spend.
Obviously, wages need to be factored in as well, but Southampton will have done their due diligence. With many clubs in need of a proven goalscorer, it is surprising more clubs did not try and hijack the deal.
When Austin starts banging in goals the transfer fee will look even better.
AZ_RBB
Guest
Second this. Bad knees at age 26 is not a good sign. Similar injuries have ruined and shortened careers. All the best to him though. Hope he keeps producing.
Liam Sheedy
Roar Guru
Not a bad start at all!
Chaz
Guest
Charlie Austin!!! 10 minute cameo off the bench for his debut and already banging in the goals.
AnD
Guest
Not when you think he's getting 100k per week. There's a reason no other clubs wanted a part of the deal, and it's that nobody trusts his knees to hold up. If they do, well good on him but the risks are pretty big for signing a player like that.
Gnasher
Guest
Bye bye Charlie, thanks for all the goals. No QPR fan would blame him for leaving. It does defy belief that Bournemouth have apparently spent £10m on a completely untried Benik Afobe when a proven goalscorer goes for so much less. Bosman strikes again!
AZ_RBB
Guest
8.5 million or 85 million? The Scottish Messi should not have a price tag.
Mick
Guest
Everton managed to get 8.5 million for Naismith!!! So how is Austin half that.
Sid
Guest
And Liverpool are looking at Long from Southampton. They would have been better off with Austin and he will be cheaper.
Steve
Guest
Look at a team like Everton. What support does Lukaku have? Someone useless like Kone. They should have been all over this deal.
Mick
Guest
There must be more to his knee injury. I know he was out of contract at the end of the season but it just seems too low a price.