Southampton could well be plotting a move to improve their wide ranks in January, with reports in recent months detailing Martin Semmens’ interest in landing Celtic trickster Jota.

Despite having overseen an extensive summer overhaul, in which the Saints welcomed ten new faces, Ralph Hasenhuttl fell victim to a season of disappointing results which had left them in the relegation zone.

He was subsequently sacked, but not before Football Insider had reported their interest in the Portuguese winger.

With his stellar performances, the club could still be plotting a move for the 23-year-old despite Nathan Jones’ arrival. It could mark a dream start to his tenure, should the move still become a reality.

It is something which is richly sought-after by the south coast club, who have endured some terrible performances this campaign from their current crop of wingers.

Theo WalcottStuart ArmstrongMoussa Djenepo and Mohamed Elyounoussi all let down their Austrian ex-boss, with a combined goal tally of just one for the season.

It is why adding the £17k-per-week star to the fold could revolutionise the football at St Mary’s.

Especially when considering his 13-goal and 14-assist debut campaign, which he has followed up this season with a further seven goals and six assists already.

It is clear that, as his boss Ange Postecoglou agreed, he is certainly a huge goal “threat”.

What further confirms this statement is his underlying statistics, which rank him in the top 2% of players for attacking contribution in the Scottish Premiership.

Although he might overperform with his expected goals tally, suggesting that he is clinical from every angle, the fact that he underperforms with his expected assists denotes that he should have more contributions than he does with the quality of chance he creates.

In every metric, he is outlined as the “special” talent that Kieran Devlin and Benfica believed he could become.

With the south coast outfit having scored just 13 goals so far this campaign, it is something which they are in desperate need of.

Jota blows away anything Jones already has at his disposal with Southampton, and this move would mark an ideal first signing as he takes on the tough task of turning around this underperforming outfit.