Southampton FC: The perfect like-for-like Che Adams replacement is MLS striker | OneFootball

As of now, Che Adams is set to leave Southampton at the end of the season as a contract extension that has been on the table since last year remains unsigned.

The Scotland international joined the Saints back in the summer 2019 for £15 million from Championship side Birmingham City.

Across his four seasons in the Premier League with the Hampshire-based side, Adams scored 25 goals.

He was perhaps hoping for a move back to the top flight of English football during this season's two transfer windows, after Southampton were relegated to the second tier of English football at the end of the 2022/23 campaign, but he didn't get his switch.

He attracted attention from Premier League sides like Crystal Palace, Everton, and Wolves in the January window, whilst the Toffees made a bid in August too.

Adams signed a five-year deal upon joining, and, since that deal is coming to an end this summer, the Saints may be inclined to look at replacement options for him.

Like many clubs operating a modern day structure with a director of football, Southampton's recruitment system will be very data-driven, and said data has been used to find the perfect replacement for the 27-year-old.

Julian Carranza is statistically the perfect Che Adams replacement for Southampton

According to FBref, Philadelphia Union striker Julian Carranza is the closest match to Adams of any player in world football, and he's already attracted European attention as well.

The Argentinian striker has been plying his trade in the MLS for the past four years, after playing for Banfield in his home country before moving up to North America.

He spent the last two seasons with the Philadelphia Union, but the two prior to that he was with David Beckham's Inter Miami.

The 23-year-old netted 14 times in the 2023 season for Philadelphia, who made it to the Eastern Conference play-off semi-finals before being knocked out by FC Cincinnati.

If we look at the two players' last full seasons, Carranza's 2023 MLS campaign, and Adams' 2022-23 Premier League season, the 23-year-old forward outperformed his Scottish counterpart in pretty much every stat when it comes to goals, assists, and chance creation.

Where the two do differ is in their positioning on the pitch.

For Philadelphia, Carranza has tended to play on the right-sided of a front two, alongside another striker.

Russell Martin's system doesn't use two forwards, so, when Adams is used, it's usually as a solo forward, although he has played behind Charly Alcaraz at times in the first half of the season when the Argentine was used as a false nine.

Southampton may not need to replace Che Adams because of Ross Stewart

The hinge of this point is whether Ross Stewart can finally return to full fitness.

He has only played in two games this season, and he's not expected to be seen again until the next campaign.

The Scotsman injured his hamstring, and, despite the initial hopes of a mid-January return, he's very unlikely to play for Southampton before the latter half of 2024 begins.

But, if he can overcome these major health issues, then Martin will have a choice between him and Adam Armstrong before they even consider replacing Adams.

Armstrong isn't a natural solo striker either, but he has shown himself to be more than capable of playing this position.

The return to fitness of Stewart and a continuation of Armstrong's form could end up saving the Saints a lot of money on a replacement for Adams.