Analysing how Russell Martin's Premiership spell at Ibrox can impact the present Southampton squad.
Finally, Southampton fans wishes have come true with Fabrizio Romano's recent transfer confirmation. The Saints wanted Russell Martin to avoid returning to the Championship promotion race and that's now guaranteed to go in their favour as long as Will Still achieves promotion at the first time of asking.
Now, not going into Martin's tactics but there are a few Southampton players that will be impacted the most by his Rangers homecoming.
That being said, let's take a deep dive into the 2 biggest winners and the 2 unfortunate losers from Martin's new Scottish adventure.
Archer and Aribo expected to follow Martin to Ibrox
Winners
Cameron Archer
Let's begin with Russell Martin's best forward signing, Cameron Archer. Though he did have a hard time adapting to the Premier League, Archer regularly found his scoring boots in Martin's setup and might have kept Southampton's Premier League safety push going for longer had the Scot never been sacked in the first place.
Anyways, that's a meaningless debate now but there is no doubt that Martin still rates Archer highly. Plus, getting some Champions League experience to his name would definitely entice Archer to link up again with his former coach.
Joe Aribo
Talking about Rangers, their former midfielder Aribo's name is sure to demand attention. In his debut campaign in the Rangers dugout, Martin will want some familiar faces and may request his previous employers Southampton for the 28-year-old versatile star.
Plus, Aribo has tasted success at Rangers previously and may also incline towards rejoining them in their new sporting project. For that to happen, Southampton would demand a permanent sale which may act as a deal breaker should Rangers prefer to go the loan route.
Losers
Nathan Wood
Last summer, Wood didn't think twice about reuniting with Martin at St. Mary's but now, he must be regretting that early call. At Southampton, Wood is due to make a starting claim for him which will only become more difficult with the additions of Joshua Quarshie and potentially a few more towering defenders to the roster.
Instead, had Wood extended his Swansea stay he would be among the favourite to kickstart Martin's Rangers squad upgrade.
Yukinari Sugawara
Similar to Wood, Yukinari Sugawara's form has also experienced a negative slump since joining forces with Southampton. Though the right back is still being motivated to fare better in the Championship, Sugawara knows remaining at Alkmaar will have given him a good opportunity to join Rangers now.
Yet, let's hope Still takes a leaf out of Martin's formations about how to get the better of the Japanese's strengths.
READ MORE SOUTHAMPTON NEWS HERE: