"We need" - Southampton urged to upgrade on £12m player after "disaster" of a loan spell | OneFootball

Bazunu has spent this season on loan with Standard Liege, but as he returns to the Saints, it's up in the air as to whether he'll feature in 2025-26

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

As Southampton prepare for life back in the EFL, speculation has already begun regarding the long-term future of many players on the books at St Mary's.

After a disastrous season in the Premier League which saw Russell Martin dismissed in December before Ivan Juric departed the club a day after relegation back to the Championship was confirmed, the Saints at least avoided the ignominy of becoming the joint-worst side in the modern-day era in the top-flight, with a goalless draw against Manchester City seeing them surpass Derby County's record-low points haul of 11.

However, that hasn't taken much away from the fact that the South Coast outfit are in desperate need of a rebuild, with plenty of names linked with the vacant managerial hotseat heading into next season, whilst Simon Rusk oversees the final two games of the season against Everton and Arsenal.

Despite shipping 82 goals in 36 games and suffering a third relegation from the division in his career, England international shot-stopper, Aaron Ramsdale, continues to be linked with a move to West Ham United, meaning that Saints would need to swiftly replace his services.

With this in mind, Football League World asked our resident Southampton fan pundit, Martin Sanders, what course of action the club should take with Gavin Bazunu, who has spent this season on loan with Belgian Pro League outfit, Standard Liege.

Southampton urged to find stronger Aaron Ramsdale replacement after Gavin Bazunu's loan "disaster"

Bazunu moved to the Solent club in June 2022 for £12m from Manchester City despite having no Premier League experience under his belt at the time. Despite immediately becoming the 'number one', Southampton's 12-year spell at the elite level would be over as the Irishman kept four clean sheets in 32 appearances.

To his credit, the Dublin native had a much improved record during Martin's promotion-winning season, keeping 11 clean sheets in 41 games, before missing out on the play-offs through injury as the experienced Alex McCarthy stepped into the fray.

However, this season couldn't have proven more frustrating for the 22-time international, who hadn't set the world alight by any means since his winter loan switch to the Stade Maurice Dufrasne prior to sustaining yet another injury, and Sanders believes that Saints should be targeting a stronger starting 'keeper in the transfer market.

"Don't get me started on Bazunu," Sanders began. "Look, (he's a) great lad.

"He picked up a bad injury last year not long before we got to the play-offs, so he missed the play-offs and Alex McCarthy came in and did very well during that campaign and the back end of last season, earning himself a new contract off the back of it.

"Bazunu went to Standard Liege, he's struggled there, picked up an injury, came back and he's had to have a minor bit of surgery," he added.

"I was reading the Standard Liege fans' comments and they said he was a disaster there.

"He was a League One goalkeeper when he came to us, playing in a Premier League side that had been well-established for many years, and having not played any higher than League One, came in and got absolutely ruined in his first Premier League season.

"I always thought it was going to be hard for him to recover from that. I think we need a better goalkeeper personally."

Southampton already linked with potential Aaron Ramsdale replacements

Whilst Bazunu has a respectable record to fall back on from Southampton's most-recent second-tier season, after an achilles and leg issue, it may take some time for the former Portsmouth man to hit the same heights, which could be a strong reason behind links to Bayern Munich's Daniel Peretz.

The Israeli has been an understudy to Manuel Neuer and Jonas Urbig during Vincent Kompany's first season in Bavaria, which saw his side reclaim the Bundesliga title, with Peretz making three league appearances and one start in the UEFA Champions League, as the Saints reportedly face competition from RC Lens and Eintracht Frankfurt.

Fellow relegated outfit Leicester City are also said to be strong admirers of transfer target, Alexsander Vulic.

Whilst it remains to be seen if the Reds are successful in these particular pursuits, it is clear that they feel the need to bolster their options between the sticks if a sustained promotion bid is to be mounted.