Southampton’s hopes of returning to the Premier League have been reignited under Tonda Eckert, with the Saints appearing well-positioned for a top-six finish this season despite a difficult start.

Southampton’s season has been a tale of two halves, with the club sitting in the top six despite only two league wins in their first 13 games.

Will Still, the former manager of Reims and Lens, orchestrated such a run, with the Englishman getting his first professional top post in his own country with the Saints this summer.

After spending upwards of £50 million on numerous incomings such as Finn Azaz, Caspar Jander, Leo Scienza, and Tom Fellows, expectations on the South Coast were understandably high, and after Still failed to get a tune out of the Southampton side, he was replaced by Tonda Eckert, the club’s Under-21 manager.

Eckert has altered the Saints since his hiring, continuing with a 4-2-3-1 formation and making a few significant transfers in the January transfer window, one in particular changing the trajectory of their fortunes at the back.

Southampton loaned out Gavin Bazunu to Stoke City following a disappointing run of form between the sticks.

As the January transfer window approached, it became evident that Southampton needed to upgrade their goalkeeper.

Gavin Bazunu, an Irish international, joined the Saints from Manchester City in the summer of 2022 for £12 million and has had a difficult time since then, retaining his place as the club’s number one for his first two seasons at St Mary’s but spending the 2024/25 season on loan in Belgium with Standard Liege, where he struggled for game time.

Still ranked him first again this year, but after only six games, he lost his spot to the more experienced Alex McCarthy, who was fired.

Eckert reinstated him in the starting lineup, and he would play every minute of Southampton’s next 13 games, despite receiving criticism for his performances, with his final game for the club being a 4-0 loss away to Middlesbrough.

According to FotMob, Bazunu has conceded 6.6 more goals than expected this season, ranking him ahead of Sheffield United’s Michael Cooper and West Brom’s Josh Griffiths among Championship keepers.

With Viktor Johansson injured and Jack Bonham going for Bolton Wanderers, Stoke City needed a new pair of gloves between the sticks, so Bazunu joined Staffordshire till the end of the season, with the option to buy.

However, after only one game, a 0-0 tie against Queens Park Rangers, the 24-year-old suffered a thigh injury in training, ruling him out for the next 12 games, while Southampton appeared to have made the right decision to split ways, with their substitute doing an excellent job.

Daniel Peretz has been brilliant since his loan transition to Southampton, and might assist them return to the Premier League.

As Bazunu left for Stoke, Southampton signed Bayern Munich shot-stopper Daniel Peretz on loan for the rest of the season, a move that raised eyebrows.

Peretz had spent the first part of the season on loan with another German club Hamburg, but he found himself second choice behind Daniel Fernandes and returned to Bavaria in January.

Since joining Bayern Munich from Maccabi Tel Aviv in the summer of 2023, the 25-year-old has made only seven senior appearances for the Bundesliga winners, having not featured regularly since returning to Israel.

However, since moving to the English South Coast, Peretz has scarcely missed a foot, or a glove, as according to FotMob, the keeper has prevented 4.33 goals more than projected, putting him among the league’s statistical leaders despite just being here since January.

Dazzling performances against Fulham in the FA Cup and Norwich City in the league have justifiably garnered him praise and caused Saints fans to forget all about Bazunu.

With Southampton comfortably inside play-off contention, Eckert’s choice to replace Bazunu with Peretz has so far shown to be a wise one, with the Saints eyeing a return to the top division.