Southampton agree deals to sign Azaz and Fellows

Southampton have agreed to sign Middlesbrough playmaker Finn Azaz in a deal worth £12m.

They have also agreed a fee that could rise to £10m for West Bromwich Albion winger Tom Fellows.

Fellows, 22, has made 96 appearances for the Baggies and scored four goals with 14 assists last season.

He plays mainly as a right-sided winger and has been capped for England's U20's and U21's teams.

Azaz joined Middlesbrough from Aston Villa in January 2024 and has made 68 appearances on Teesside.

During his time at the Riverside he has scored 17 goals and registered 17 assists.

He has won seven caps for the Republic of Ireland, scoring once.

Azaz was previously part of West Brom's youth teams and spent time on loan at Cheltenham, Newport County and Plymouth Argyle.

Southampton also also in talks to sign German central midfielder Caspar Jander from FC Nuremberg.

The 22-year-old has previously played for MSV Duisburg as well as Schalke's youth teams and been capped at Under-21 and U20 level by Germany.

Azaz is a 'proven talent at Championship level'

I'd say it is a good deal for both clubs because it is the sort of deal Southampton have been crying out for.

Saints needed someone with a bit more trickery in the final third and someone that can offer something different.

Tyler Dibling has gone to Everton so here comes some of that money in a player that is a proven talent at Championship level.

He has bags of experience in this division and is a good age, he improves the starting team for sure.

Azaz might not be a striker but he provides some firepower that could push Saints back to the Premier League.

WBA fans had been 'bracing themselves' for sale of Fellows

Tom Fellows has been named West Brom's young player of the year in successive seasons

This sale is something that Albion fans have been bracing themselves for for a while, particularly after the 22-year-old racked up the joint highest amount of assists last season in the Championship, tying on 14 with Portsmouth's Josh Murphy.

He was also part of the England U21s squad that won the Euros in the summer, but the news has been greeted with a mix of disappointment and sadness from fans.

The sadness is of course from losing one of their own. A lad from Longbridge in Birmingham, who'd come through the club's academy to dazzle with his dribbling skills in the first team.

Just shy of 100 appearances later, he's leaving for a fellow Championship side, albeit one recently relegated from the top flight.

With the recent £9m sale of Torbjorn Heggem to Bologna, it was believed that the Baggies weren't under pressure to sell another one of their prized assets, so the disappointment comes from the perceived low fee that the Baggies have accepted.

It's also a bit surprising as Southampton's interest in the winger has been long-standing and the Baggies reportedly rejected a similar offer last summer.

Chairman Shilen Patel, who took over in February last year, has been open about the club's ongoing battle with profit and sustainability rules and the sale of an academy product is pure profit on the books.

Almost £20m profit on just two players is not bad for business and fans should be reassured that they will reinvest the money wisely in several areas of the squad as part of a rebuild that ironically began after their Championship play-off semi-final defeat at St Mary's 15 months ago.