Southampton suffered a tenth Premier League defeat of the season on Tuesday when they went down 2-1 away at relegation-threatened Swansea.

Claude Puel’s side had a week before booked their place in the League Cup final after getting past Liverpool over two legs in the semi-final, before being thumped 5-0 by Arsenal in the fourth round of the FA Cup on Saturday.

And any lingering concerns from that game appeared in the first half at the Liberty Stadium on Tuesday, with Alfie Mawson giving Paul Clement’s side the lead at the break before Shane Long equalised 12 minutes into the second period.

However, Swansea’s talisman Gylfi Sigurdsson netted what proved to be the winner 20 minutes from time to secure Clement a second win in charge, as well as condemn the Saints to a fifth league defeat in six games.

Clearly, it’s not quite clicking for Southampton in the Premier League at present, with many suggesting that Puel needed to do more in the January transfer window to strengthen his squad.

They did bring in Manolo Gabbiadini on deadline day for £14 million, but he was the only arrival despite reported links to many players – thus, here are THREE massive deals Southampton failed to get done last month…

Fabian Schar

Although the Saints managed to keep hold of Virgil van Dijk, the sale of captain Jose Fonte to West Ham does leave them slightly short in the centre-back department.

Which is why the South Coast outfit were linked with a move for Hoffenheim’s Fabian Schar during the January window.

The Swiss international has started just three times for the club in the Bundesliga this season, this all after a summer which saw the 25-year-old produce impressive displays to help his country reach the last 16 of Euro 2016.

Nonetheless, Schar is clearly out of favour at Hoffenheim and, although he’s made a few substitute appearances in 2017, it doesn’t look like he’s going to nail down a starting place anytime soon.

The tough-tackling defender could have been ideal for Southampton, yet it wasn’t a deal they could get done last month.

Kevin Wimmer

Another centre-back the Saints were linked to was Tottenham’s Kevin Wimmer, who has unsurprisingly struggled to break into Mauricio Pochettino’s side ahead of Jan Vertonghen, Toby Alderweireld, and Eric Dier.

The Austrian international moved to White Hart Lane in 2015, but has made just 31 appearances for Spurs since then, of which only nine have come in this campaign.

And when he has been brought into the side this term, he hasn’t always flourished, with his display against Arsenal back in November indicative of his deficiencies as he netted an own goal and looked suspect defensively throughout the contest.

Nonetheless, Vertonghen’s injury against West Brom a few weeks ago seems to have prevented Wimmer moving on during the January window, which will be of disappointment to Puel’s Saints.

Although the 24-year-old hasn’t had a great time of it this season, there’s clearly potential there, and regular first team football at Southampton may have got the best out of him.

Hatem Ben Arfa

Because of his recent record in English football with Newcastle and Hull, missing out on Hatem Ben Arfa in January isn’t likely to disappoint many Southampton fans.

Nonetheless, the Frenchman’s time under Puel at Nice suggests that the Saints boss knows how to get the best out of him, and his best can be of a supremely high standard.

The 29-year-old moved to the French club in 2015 after an unsuccessful spell in England, and scored 18 goals in just 37 appearances in his one and only season with the Ligue 1 side, helping them to a fourth place finish in the French top-flight.

He was then snapped up by champions Paris Saint-Germain, but it hasn’t worked out for Ben Arfa in the French capital, as he has started just four league games this season, and just one in the Champions League.

Thus, speculation was building about his future, and the Saints were reportedly keeping tabs on his situation based on Puel’s previous working relationship with Ben Arfa.

However, it was a deal that didn’t take place in January, yet you sense that if Ben Arfa cannot break into the PSG team between now and May, he may consider a move in the summer.