Southampton won't be losing sleep over how January saga with Leeds, Bolton, Liverpool ended: View | OneFootball

Southampton have seemingly hit form at the perfect time.

The Championship promotion race is as hot as ever right now as several clubs look to climb into the top tier. Leeds, Leicester and Ipswich have looked the likeliest of candidates all season, but Southampton have found some incredible form in the second half of the campaign to put them right in the mix for promotion.

Just a couple of fixtures remain until the end of the season, as the Saints find themselves chasing the top three.

Russell Martin has built a squad that is certainly capable of returning to the Premier League, having signed the likes of Flynn Downes, David Brooks and Taylor Harwood-Bellis this season, but there was one potential signing in January that Southampton missed out on. In hindsight, it now appears that the Saints will be glad a move never materialised.

Calvin Ramsay January interest

Calvin Ramsay spent the first half of the season on loan at Preston North End, but he spent a large portion of the spell on the sidelines. When he returned to Anfield in January, it was clear that he was not going to get any game time, so another loan move seemed to be the sensible option.

Leeds United were said to be keeping tabs on the player, per The Daily Mail's print edition (January 18, page 69), with Southampton also in the mix. Both would have been fantastic moves for Ramsay, who was looking for his first taste of regular first-team football since signing for Liverpool in 2022.

Towards the end of the window, League One Bolton Wanderers emerged as potential suitors, and despite interest from the division above, Bolton was Ramsay's destination. After failing to make many appearances for Preston in the Championship, this gave him the opportunity to shine in the third tier, but that has unfortunately not been the case.

Ramsay's Bolton Wanderers spell

Ramsay's spell at Bolton has been very similar to his spell at Preston, as his game time has been extremely limited. He has made just three league appearances, with only one of them being in the starting eleven as the Trotters were held to a draw against Northampton Town.

Even in his only league start for the club, he was substituted at half-time after an underwhelming performance at right midfield. He did also earn a start in the EFL Trophy quarter-finals against Blackpool, but again was substituted, this time after an hour.

For the most part, Ramsay has been completely out of the squad at Bolton, which raises huge questions around the player's future.

While Southampton would not have spent much money to have Ramsay at the club, they will probably be quite glad that they never secured a deal for the player in hindsight.

His season as a whole has been rather disappointing, and his opportunities would probably have been even slimmer at Southampton, considering the strength of their squad. Ramsay is naturally a right-back, so with Kyle Walker-Peters and James Bree already on the books at St Mary's, his game time would have been fairly non-existent.

Southampton's January window was reasonably quiet as they brought in just two players in Brooks and Joe Rothwell, so a third transfer would not have done them much harm. However, based on Ramsay's time at Bolton, the Saints will not have to live with the regret of not being able to secure his services in the winter. He's not showing at Bolton that he would've been a solid addition for Southampton or Leeds, as the pair tussle with Ipswich Town and Leicester City for automatic promotion back to the Premier League.