Southampton endured a busy summer as they dealt with their ejection from the play-offs last season.

That punishment, combined with a four-point deduction for the current season, put Saints in a precarious situation while they waited for a potential FA punishment for Tonda Eckert’s involvement in Spygate.

With all of this going on, the German manager and his recruitment team had to try to construct a side that could contend for promotion, and a few large sales were unavoidable, with Taylor Harwood-Bellis and Shea Charles commanding high prices.

This allowed the Saints to make some incoming signings, but Ross Stewart was one of the players who left without a transfer fee.

Ross Stewart left Southampton on a free transfer during the summer.

The striker struggled with injuries throughout his time at Southampton following his move from Sunderland, but Stewart did have his best season in the team the previous year.

Stewart, like many other players, improved under Eckert, and he finished the season with nine goals in 27 games, a respectable return given his minutes played.

Ross Stewart’s Records in English Football (Source: Transfermarkt)

Club

Appearances

Goals

Sunderland: 80

40

Southampton: 50, 12

Swansea City

2

Stewart’s contract was expiring and he had a history of injuries, making his future uncertain. However, there was hope that he would stay on the south coast.

However, the Scotland international eventually joined Swansea, signing a three-year contract.

Ross Stewart continues to struggle with injuries at Swansea City.

On a free transfer, you could see Swansea taking a chance by bringing the 30-year-old into Vitor Matos’ squad.

When Stewart is fit and available, there is no doubt about his abilities. He has great physical abilities, can bring others into play, and scores goals.

However, Stewart has struggled with injuries throughout his career, and any club interested in signing him would have been concerned.

Unfortunately for Swansea, the former Inverness player has previously been on the treatment table, missing six games from late August to mid-October due to a quad injury.

Ross Stewart faces a challenge for regular minutes at Swansea City.

Stewart is finally back in action, and he contributed to the Swans’ excellent victory over Millwall after coming on as a substitute at The Den.

However, it remains to be seen how frequently Stewart will appear, since Matos is loaded for options when it comes to selecting his first-choice nine.

Adam Idah has had a fantastic start to the season, scoring four goals in nine games to assist the squad to the top of the table.

Swansea also have Zan Vipotnik on their roster, who is a prolific scorer at this level and earned the Golden Boot last season.

With Matos only playing one striker, there is tremendous competition for positions, so even when Stewart is fit, he knows he will struggle to get on the field.

Southampton are scoring a lot of goals under Tonda Eckert.

The Saints made a bold decision not to push to keep Stewart, knowing he could deliver and would have been an excellent backup to Cyle Larin.

Nonetheless, the club clearly had doubts about the transaction, and instead, they signed Divin Mubama from Manchester City.

The 21-year-old is off to a poor start, scoring only once, while Lewis Dobbin, another summer recruit, has yet to fire.

However, Southampton has scored 21 goals in ten games, a total only surpassed by West Ham.

Larin has been instrumental in this, and if the Canadian international misses a few games, there will be some concerns about the depth behind him.

Of course, Southampton would hope this does not happen, but with Stewart’s problems continuing at Swansea, they are unlikely to regret not keeping the Scotsman.