Southampton’s perfect Flynn Downes replacement is sitting at Nottingham Forest | OneFootball

If Flynn Downes is leave Southampton this summer, a ready made replacement could be right there in the wings at Nottingham Forest.

Southampton's Flynn Downes is receiving transfer attention this summer, but if he is to leave St Mary's, there is a ready-made replacement already in the wings at Nottingham Forest.

Downes joined Southampton in the summer of 2023 on a season-long loan from West Ham United, making his move permanent following the Saints' return to the Premier League at the end of the 2023-24 season.

Southampton endured a wretched season at the foot of the Premier League and are now back in the Championship, but Downes continued to impress and there has been interest from one of his former managers in taking him away from the club.

Flynn Downes could leave Southampton this summer - he's been linked with Rangers

Russell Martin arrived at St Mary's just a couple of months prior to Downes in 2023 and was in charge of the team that was promoted to the Premier League.

But Martin is north of the border now at Rangers, and it's been widely reported that he is very interested in taking Downes to Ibrox.

With the promise of 50,000 crowds for home matches, European football, and the opportunity to link back up with the manager with whom, it could turn out to be an extremely tempting offer.

He wouldn't come cheap, with talk of any transfer fee possibly reaching as much as £10 million. But Rangers have money from fresh investment this summer, so this isn't an amount they'd find completely unaffordable.

If Rangers are to swoop for Downes, Southampton could bag themselves a ready-made upgrade from Nottingham Forest in the form of Lewis O'Brien.

Lewis O'Brien could be a ready-made replacement for Flynn Downes

O'Brien has a year to run on his contract at the City Ground, but he spent the second half of the 2024-25 season on loan with Swansea City, and prior to that he also had loan spells with D.C. United, Middlesbrough and Los Angeles FC.

With Forest preparing for European football next season, they could well be ready to listen to relatively modest offers for a player who has only made 13 League appearances for them since signing in 2022, and reports suggest Hull City have already made a £5 million offer for his services, as per Alan Nixon, but the Tricky Trees want more cash despite O'Brien being out of favour.

The side-by-side of their statistics for 2024-25 are slightly skewed by the fact that O'Brien only made 16 appearances last season while Downes made 27, but they do show a player who could comfortably fit into the gap left by Downes' departure.

Downes is slightly more defensively-minded, but O'Brien keeps possession slightly better and doesn't commit anywhere near as many fouls.

And in terms of wages, there might not be that much of a difference.

Capology estimates Downes' wage at £30,000-a-week and O'Brien's at £35,000-a-week. This would, of course, put either of them towards the top end of the Championship player wage scale, but what's significant isn't the amount of their wages, but how similar they are. Financially, it may be a lik-for-like swap in terms of the cost of their contracts.

The loss of Flynn Downes would be a big one for Southampton, if he were to depart. Last season was a dismal one for the Saints, but he was one of their highlights.

But O'Brien would be a ready-made replacement for the new Southampton manager, Will Still, as he prepares to get his club back into the Premier League again.