The Southampton front four that could have been if they landed this key deal

Southampton suffered a fifth defeat in six Premier League matches on Tuesday night after going down 2-1 at relegation-threatened Swansea.

Claude Puel’s side six days previously secured their place in the League Cup final after completing an aggregate victory over Liverpool in the semi-finals, but they returned to league matters by falling behind to an Alfie Mawson goal at the Liberty Stadium in the first half.

Shane Long did equalise for the visitors early in the second half, but the Swans’ talisman Gylfi Sigurdsson netted what turned out to be the winner 20 minutes from time to secure a much-needed three points for Paul Clement’s men.

It means though that Puel’s Saints have slipped to 12th in the table, although they are still eight points clear of the bottom three, which should be enough for them not to need to worry about the prospect of relegation.

Nonetheless, their recent league form must be of concern to Puel, who could’ve looked at the transfer market as a way of arresting the slump.

He did bring in Napoli striker Manolo Gabbiadini on deadline day, but other than that there were no incomings at St Mary’s, despite the club being linked with many quality players.

Thus, here is what their FRONT FOUR could have looked like had they got one key deal over the line last month…