Who is Maximilian Entrup? Southampton FC's latest transfer target | OneFootball

On an eight-match unbeaten streak in Championship action and sitting fourth in the table, Southampton are not just focused on what they are doing right now on the pitch.

The January transfer window will soon be open for English clubs, and if they want to make that push into the top two of the Championship, Russell Martin and the recruitment team above him may have to spend to add that extra bit of quality.

That includes at the top end of the pitch despite having the prolific Adam Armstrong, and club scouts are set to run the rule over an in-form striker plying his trade in a top flight European division.

Southampton's interest in Maximilian Entrup

According to Austrian publication Laola1, Southampton are set to take in Austria's clash with Germany on Tuesday night at the Ernst-Happel-Stadion in Vienna, where two players will be on their radar.

One of those is Maximilian Entrup, who if selected will be making his debut for Ralf Rangnick's side after his incredible form at domestic level.

With Che Adams' future unclear at St Mary's Stadium, it is clear that the Saints are checking up on potential replacements, even though they have already added Ross Stewart to their ranks, and Entrup is one of those that is set to be considered.

Who is Maximilian Entrup?

Entrup will barely be known among English football fans - unless they are also avid viewers of the Austrian Bundesliga as well.

The 26-year-old is currently plying his trade for TSV Hartberg in Austria's top flight, where he has netted eight times in just nine appearances since his arrival over the summer, and added to that are two assists and also three more goals in two ÖFB-Cup matches.

It has been a sharp rise for Entrup in the last few months as Hartberg, who sit fourth in the Bundesliga table, actually plucked him from the lower reaches of Austrian football in July.

Entrup started out his senior footballing career in 2018 with Floridsdorfer AC, who he joined in 2015 as a teenager after leaving one of the bigger clubs of the country in the form of Austria Vienna.

In 2016 though, Entrup was snapped up by Rapid Vienna for €200,000 after some promising performances in the second tier, but he never quite made the cut at first-team level and after a loan at St. Pölten, the forward departed on a free transfer in 2018.

Entrup has had to work his way back up the Austrian footballing pyramid, having joined Lafnitz in the second tier in 2018 but then he dropped down a level in 2020 to join FCM Traiskirchen, where he started to find form and eventually signed for FC Marchfeld Donauauen in the same league.

After scoring 22 goals in 28 appearances in the 2022-23 season, Entrup could not go unnoticed any longer which led to his move to the top flight once more, and he's clearly thriving and considered to now be one of Austria's best striking talents - it now remains to be seen how much time he gets against Germany, if any, and if he can continue his form at club level.