5 players Will Still must sign for Southampton FC ASAP if appointed | OneFootball

Southampton need a rebuild after a disastrous 2024/25 season, so here are 5 players that Will Still should be giving consideration to, if hired.

Southampton are believed to be close to taking on Will Still as their new manager, and they desperately need a rebuild.

With the summer break now looming and it appearing increasingly likely that Still will be the club's new manager, Southampton need reinforcements. They will, after all, have a minimum of eight extra league games to play next season, and a possible maximum of eleven.

With a number of players also falling out-of-contract and likely to leave St Mary's this summer, here are five that could be brought in by Southampton to prepare for another attempt at a quick return to the Premier League.

Rob Holding

Rob Holding's 2023 move from Arsenal to Crystal Palace didn't exactly go according to plan. By October 2024 it was being reported that he'd fallen out with Oliver Glasner and in January he was packed off on loan to Sheffield United until the end of the season.

Holding could end this season with promotion back to the Premier League, but he's clearly not welcome at Selhurst Park and Southampton seem likely to lose defenders such as Jan Bednarek this summer, so a switch to St Mary's could make sense for both the central defender and the Saints.

Angus Gunn

Another out-of-contract player at Southampton this summer is goalkeeper Joe Lumley, who struggled for game time behind Aaron Ramsdale in the Premier League last season. Southampton have a third goalkeeping option in Alex McCarthy, but he's now 36, and they will still need further cover in this position.

Gunn is an experienced Championship goalkeeper and is also already familiar with the club, having made 22 appearances for them in the Premier League between 2018 and 2020. With it having already been confirmed that his contract is not being renewed with Norwich this summer, he could provide a solid option heading back to the EFL.

Alfie Doughty

Able to play as a full-back, a wing-back, or in midfield, Alfie Doughty is certainly versatile, but it's as a wing-back that Will Still would most likely want to use him. Still loves an aggressively forward-moving wing-back, and this is a role that Doughty could definitely fulfill at Southampton.

He signed a three-year contract extension with his current club, Luton Town, in October 2024, tying him to the Hatters until 2028, but with Luton having been relegated to League One at the end of the season, a move to a club pushing for promotion to the Premier League could well appeal to him. He's also experienced at this level, having also played for Charlton, Stoke and Cardiff at this level, as well as Luton.

Paxten Aaronson

Younger brother of Leeds United player Brenden, Eintracht Frankfurt's Paxten Aaronson was signed from Philadelphia Union in 2022 but only made 14 League appearances for them in the Bundesliga before being sent to Vitesse Arnhem in the January 2024 transfer window.

His performances throughout the second half of the 2023/24 season caught the eye, and at the end of that season he signed a contract extension with Eintracht Frankfurt, but this didn't prevent him from being sent out on another season's loan in the Eredivisie. This time with FC Utrecht, for whom he made 28 appearances in the 2024/25 season.

Still just 21 years old, Aaronson can play in either midfield or attack, and this versatility could come in useful to Still were Southampton to make a move for him, and should Eintracht Frankfurt be interested in another year-long loan for this promising young player.

Jumah Bah

Bah is a name already familiar to Still. The 19-year-old signed for Manchester City from Valladolid in January and was immediately moved off to Still's Lens on loan, where he impressed over the second half of the season over ten appearances.

Southampton will need defensive reinforcements and, if City are interested in another loan for the young Sierra Leonean then a move to Southampton and a reunion with the former Lens manager could work out well for all.