Southampton have had some top players over the years, and with the team currently languishing just a point above the relegation zone, some fans might reminisce about the joys when they were around.

Whilst many were sold on to teams like Liverpool or Manchester United, where they went on to win plenty of trophies, the sale of Danny Ings is one which likely still perplexes the football community today.

A £25m fee was nothing to shrug about, but for what they would lose it seemed strange to sell to a rival in Aston Villa.

Although it was just last summer, and whilst Armando Broja filled the vacancy well in 2021/22 with nine goals, the club have always seemingly lacked a consistent long-term goal scorer to propel them up the table.

Signed by Ralph Hasenhuttl in 2019, although they have made a small profit from their initial £20m outlay, it is hardly enough to give up a man who had scored 46 times in 100 games for the Saints.

Now they could pay the ultimate price, as they remain reliant on Che Adams, who has just 25 goals in 119 appearances on the south coast.

They sit worryingly close to a potential relegation, and if it comes down to a lack of goals then they will only have one decision to blame.

Although he may be a workmanlike option up front, the Scotland international does not have the same “lethal” instincts that Chris Sutton bestowed upon Ings.

The only positive from the deal is that since moving to the Midlands the 30-year-old has struggled somewhat. Suffering from a lack of consistency and Steven Gerrard’s ever-changing system, he has just nine goals in 40 games for the Villans.

If they were to have him back, Southampton would need something akin to the 2019/20 version of the Englishman.

During that campaign, he notched a phenomenal 22 goals in the Premier League across 38 appearances, an equally impressive feat that he played so often given his injury record.

He could be the only man who might be able to save the struggling Saints at the moment, where goals are hardly free-flowing, and points are far and few between.