QPR striker Charlie Austin has been linked with a summer move to Saints in yesterday’s Daily Mail.
Southampton are in desperate need of a striker this summer, after Graziano Pelle’s lack of confidence in front of goal has seen the side without an inform centre-forward to lead the line.
Pelle has failed to score in over 10 league games and a fresh pair of legs upfront would be exactly what the south coast side need in order to not slip off the gas pedal.
Austin on the other hand, has been in fantastic form this season. Having scored 15 goals in the Premier League so far, he has scored over 50% of QPR’s league goals. In addition, he’s only scored 2 less goals in the league than Diego Costa and Sergio Aguero.
He is also the second most prolific Englishman in the league, only one behind highly rated Harry Kane. He has also outscored fellow countrymen Wayne Rooney and Saido Berahino.
Austin has proved that he score at all levels of English football, having worked his way up from Kintbury Rangers in the Hellenic Football League, where his career started back in 2006.
Now, still only 25, the QPR talisman has scored 212 professional goals across 5 tiers of English football; and it shouldn’t be too long before he gets a call up to the England national team. With Southampton pushing for European Qualification, it seems like a logical step up for him.
However, if QPR are to be relegated, Southampton will not be the only club in the race for the forward. Alan Pardew’s Crystal Palace have also been linked with a move for the striker in the summer, with Pardew hoping to cement Palace’s place in the Premier League.
Southampton are rumoured to have backup options if they are priced out of a move by The R’s, with Manchester United outcast Javier Hernandez and Rayo Vallecano frontman Alberto Bueno also being watched by Ronald Koeman.
Austin’s proven ability at this level could make him the fan’s choice come to the summer transfer window, if we’re to presume Hernandez’s wage demands would be much more.
