The 2026 January transfer window officially opened on New Year’s Day, and it marks the beginning of a time in which players whose contracts expire this summer can negotiate a pre-contract agreement to join another club in Europe.

Southampton are currently fighting to maintain a play-off drive in the Championship after being relegated from the Premier League last season, and they, like everyone else, have a lot of players out of contract at the end of June.

If those players sign a pre-contract with a club outside of the United Kingdom this month, they will be able to leave St Mary’s on a free transfer in the summer.

Southampton has five players who are set to leave the south coast in six months, including several highly experienced players.

Alex McCarthy
Joe Aribo
Ross Stewart
Oriol Romeu
Ryan Fraser

Potential One-Year Extensions

Southampton re-signed free agent Oriol Romeu in November on a deal that would last until the end of the season, which pleased the St Mary’s supporters, as the Spaniard is a fan favourite.

It’s fair to say that things haven’t gone very well for the 34-year-old thus far, with Saints losing three of his five appearances, including two late winners for Millwall and Oxford United when he came on as a substitute.

Since the Boxing Day setback at the Kassam Stadium, Tonda Eckert has kept Romeu out of successive matchday teams against Birmingham City and Millwall.

May Get a New Deal

It’s difficult to build an argument for any of them right now.

Romeu looks nothing like the player he once was, and it’s understandable that he’s far from match fit after missing a few months of action before returning to Southampton.

Similarly, Joe Aribo, who was up for sale in the summer, and Ryan Fraser are frequently left out of matchday squads and haven’t shown enough to warrant extensions.

Saints are also very likely to cut their losses on Ross Stewart, who joined for an initial £8 million in the summer of 2023.

However, the Scot has been troubled by injuries, making only 27 appearances in two and a half years at St Mary’s.

Alex McCarthy has been with the club for ten years and is the most likely to be granted a new contract, though even that could be in doubt as Southampton prepares to finalize the loan signing of Bayern Munich goalkeeper Daniel Peretz.

Set to leave St. Mary’s

As previously stated, it is difficult to envisage any of the five surviving at Southampton under the current circumstances.

McCarthy, Fraser, and Stewart are more likely to wait until June and stay in the UK if they go, but Aribo has long been linked with a move to Turkey or Saudi Arabia.

As a result, the Nigerian international appears to be the most likely to sign a pre-contract agreement with an overseas club this month.