Southampton

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On the latest episode of BBC Radio Solent's Saints and Sinners podcast, Southampton kitman Mark Forbes has explained the laundry system he gets to work with.

Forbes revealed he averages between 23,000-27,000 steps a day and more than 30,000 in pre-season, saying Southampton's machinery "will be used in most NHS clinical environments," because of its efficiency.

"We've got a bespoke laundry system that was designed and created with third parties following many years of research," said Forbes. "We have a laundry supplier who understood our needs but was also sensitive to our commitment to a more eco-friendly carbon footprint.

"It works on a dosing system, using pure oxygen that is pumped into the washing machines. It was independently researched by DeMontford University in Leicester and it will kill 98-99% of nasty bugs and germs.

"We worked with Public Health England when we designed it back in 2014. [It] will be in used in most NHS clinical environments. It meets the standards of good clinical practices as well as [being] sensitive to our environmental needs."

Listen to the full episode here

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A new episode of BBC Radio Solent's Saints and Sinners podcast is available on BBC Sounds.

In this episode Tom and Adam chat about next season's fixtures, football strips and chat to Southampton's kitman Mark Forbes (Forbesy).

Listen to the full episode here

Brighton and Southampton have made offers to IFK Gothenburg for 18-year-old Malian midfielder Malick Yalcouye. (Caught offside), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Friday's full gossip column

Southampton are the frontrunners to sign Flynn Downes on a permanent deal after having the midfielder, 25, on loan from West Ham last season. (GiveMeSport), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Thursday's full gossip column

The fixtures for the new Premier League season are out and we asked you for your predictions on where Southampton will be after 10 games.

Here is a selection of your comments:

Simon: A relatively kind first 10 with winnable home games against Nottingham Forest, Ipswich, Leicester and Everton and two away games at Brentford and Bournemouth. No reason not to expect at least 11 points from those and maybe, with a good confident start, 13 points. This is obviously tempered with difficult games against Newcastle, Manchester United, Arsenal and Manchester City.

Mark: I expect us to win games at the likes of Brentford, but lose heavily (unless we sure up our backline this summer) against the 'bigger' sides. There will be an adjustment to the speed and intensity of the Premier League, but Martin's technical nous will see us in 14th or 15th position after 10 games. I don't think we will be a walkover.

Blakey: We need to be out of the bottom three after the first 10 games. Fail to get a reasonable start and it's going to be a long season. Assuming Adams is leaving, signing a striker has to be a priority.

Ian: Mid-table if injuries are few and far between!

Southampton have asked about re-signing Danny Ings from West Ham and are willing to pay up to £6m for the 31-year-old striker. (Mail), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Wednesday's full gossip column

A new episode of BBC Radio Solent's Goin' Home With Adam And Jo is now available on BBC Sounds.

The team chat Southampton's Premier League return on the day the 2024-25 fixtures were released.

Listen to the full episode here

Now the fixtures for the new Premier League season are out, it is time to start looking ahead to your club's 2024-25 campaign and all the key matches.

So, where do you think Southampton will be after the first 10 games?

Let us know, external

Southampton's Premier League fixtures for the 2024-25 season have arrived and if you haven't seen them yet you can find them here.

The Saints start with a long trip to Newcastle United on the opening weekend, with games against Nottingham Forest at home and Brentford away to round off August.

Russell Martin's side travel along England's south coast to Bournemouth on 28 September, with the return game at St Mary's on 15 February.

Southampton host West Ham on Boxing Day, while the Championship play-off winners will take on Premier League champions Manchester City on 26 October (away) and 10 May (home).

Their final two games of the campaign are a trip to Everton - the final game at the Blues' Goodison Park - followed by a home game against Arsenal.

Fixtures for the Premier League opening weekend have been released.

The 2024-25 season will begin at Old Trafford with Manchester United welcoming Fulham.

Ipswich Town's 22 years away from the top flight will come to an end with a visit from Arne Slot's Liverpool, while fellow newly promoted sides Southampton and Leicester will visit Newcastle and welcome Tottenham respectively.

Elsewhere, champions Manchester City will begin their quest for a fifth Premier League title in a row by travelling to Stamford Bridge to face Chelsea in Enzo Maresca's first game in charge.

The games will take place between 16-19 August.

Southampton will begin their 2024-25 Premier League campaign against Newcastle at St James' Park.

The match will take place on Saturday, 17 August at 15:00 BST.

You can find all of Southampton's fixtures here

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The 2024-25 Premier League fixtures are being released on Tuesday at 09:00 BST - and you will see them on the BBC Sport website and app as soon as they are announced.

What should you look out for?

By chief football news reporter Simon Stone

Matches around European games

This will be even more keenly assessed than usual given the four clubs in the Champions League and two in the Europa League will have eight first-phase games rather than six. Long trips before or after European games do not go down well with managers.

Matches around internationals

There are international breaks in September, October, November and March. In Europe, the first three of those are for Nations League fixtures. World Cup qualifiers in Europe start in March 2025, though in South America and Asia they are being played in all four windows.

England managers tend not to be keen on blockbuster league matches immediately before a break and club bosses are equally unhappy at having to play key matches after them when so many players get back on Thursday or Friday.

Festive fixtures

To allow for a mid-August start, there will not be a winter break this season. The Premier League has assured clubs they will not be asked to play twice in less than 60 hours at any point over Christmas and New Year. That rules out any club playing on 26 December also having a game on 28 December. There will be no Christmas Eve fixture in the 2024-25 season.

As the FA Cup third round has been moved from its traditional home on the first weekend of January to the second, it does seem there will be four rounds of fixtures over the festive period - starting on 21 December and ending on 5 January.

New managers

Four Premier League clubs already have new managers - Fabian Hurzeler (Brighton), Enzo Maresca (Chelsea), Arne Slot (Liverpool) and Julen Lopetegui (West Ham) - with a fifth to come at Leicester. So that's a new era beginning at 25% of clubs before a ball has been kicked. Russell Martin will take charge of a top-flight game for the first time after Southampton's promotion.

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Adam Lallana says he is looking forward to adapting Russell Martin's playing style at Southampton, which he believes is "similar" to that employed by Roberto de Zerbi during his time playing at Brighton.

Lallana's return to his boyhood club was confirmed earlier this month after four years with the Seagulls - 18 months of which was under De Zerbi, who also departed at the end of last season.

"I love football, I playing football and I love Russell's style," he told Saints' official website, external.

"It's very similar to Roberto's style - a manager who I've expressed my love for as well and Russell knows that, and he knows that their styles are relatively similar.

"I definitely feel I can help and I know the philosophy Russell wants to promote.

"Being very experienced in the Premier League, I feel I can help the football club adapt quickly to the level, because although they were only there a couple of years ago, there are still probably players who haven't played so much in the league, and it is different.

"The quality that you're up against is very strong and you get punished, so I just feel I can help some of the lads adapt a little bit quicker, and if I can influence them in a positive way in any way, shape or form then obviously I'm happy to help."

Leeds United, Southampton, Ipswich Town and Leicester City are among the clubs interested in signing 26-year-old Wales and Tottenham defender Joe Rodon. (Football.London), external

Want more transfer news? Read Monday's full gossip column

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Midfielder Adam Lallana says it feels "surreal" after rejoining Southampton on a one-year deal.

The 36-year-old, who left Brighton at the end of his contract last month, will go back to the Saints having last played for the side 10 years ago.

He began his career at the south coast club, joining the academy at the age of 12 and went on to make 265 first-team appearances, scoring 60 goals, before leaving to join Liverpool in 2014.

Lallana becomes Southampton's first signing of the summer transfer window and the club will be hoping to use his Premier League experience having secured their promotion back to the top flight from the Championship.

"It does feel surreal, but it's an opportunity I'm extremely grateful for and I'm looking forward to," the England international said.

"When I started speaking to Russell [Martin] and understood there was a little bit of interest, something straight away felt right in my head and in my heart.

"I'm extremely happy to come back to where it all started. Although it sounds like a bit of a fairytale, in my head there's still a job to do and I'm really confident I've still got a lot to give to this football club."

Saints boss Martin: "I'm delighted that we could bring Adam back home to where it all began for him. Adam has the DNA of this club running through him and brings vital experience as we prepare for the Premier League.

"We're going to need everyone to play a part again this coming season and Adam helps us create real depth and know-how in midfield."

If you could only buy one, sell one, and loan out one player at Southampton, who would you pick?

That was the question we asked you to answer, with the transfer window set to open on Friday.

Here are some of your thoughts:

Chris: Buy: James Ward-Prowse - his intelligence, foresight and passing would fit brilliantly in Russell Martin's style if we cannot keep Flynn Downes; there is not really room for them both, though. Sell: Jack Stephens - he does too many risky passes for Martin's style. Loan: Samuel Edozi - to get stronger on the ball and learn when to pass.

Jon: Buy: Flynn Downes - obvious move and a left-back is a big must too. Sell: Lyanco, Duje Caleta-Carr and Paul Onuachu.

Anthony: Buy: Armando Broja. Sell: Samuel Edozie. Loan: Shea Charles.

John: Buy: Flyn Downes. Sell: Ryan Manning.

Nick Mashiter
BBC Sport Football News Reporter

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Southampton are ready to revive their interest in Bournemouth defender Max Aarons.

The Saints want to sign the right-back after returning to the Premier League but Aarons is also being tracked by a number of other top-flight clubs.

Aarons was close to a move to St Mary's last summer before moving to Bournemouth for Premier League football.

Southampton, along with Leeds United, agreed a fee with Norwich City - only for the Cherries to make a last-gasp move to snatch the former England Under-21 international in a £12m deal.

But, after winning the Championship play-offs by beating Leeds 1-0 at Wembley last month, boss Russell Martin wants to bolster his squad with the 24-year-old.

Aarons made just 13 Premier League starts for the Cherries last season, and 23 appearances in total, after a persistent hamstring injury hampered his debut campaign.

Before that, he made over 200 appearances for Norwich, helping the Canaries win two Championship titles, and was in the academy when Martin was captain at Carrow Road.

Ryan Fraser is also close to agreeing a permanent move back to St Mary's after a successful loan from Newcastle United last season.

The club also remain in talks with out-of-contract Che Adams amid interest from Wolves and Nottingham Forest, while the striker also has options in Serie A, Major League Soccer and the Saudio Pro League.

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BBC Radio Solent sports editor Adam Blackmore has been reacting to the rumours that Southampton have agreed a deal to sign Ryan Fraser from Newcastle United, with the "final details left to be done", on the Saints And Sinners podcast.

Fraser joined Southampton on a season-long loan at the beginning of the 2023-24 campaign. The winger went on to make 44 appearances for Russell Martin's side, as they gained promotion back to the Premier League.

Blackmore said: "The point is that he is never going to go back to Newcastle, is he?

"I think he is a squad player. I think he has done well in the Premier League for one to two seasons at Bournemouth, between 2016 and 2018. I would say that he is a good man to have around at 30 years old.

"But if he is starting every game in the Premier League, I would be surprised because he actually didn't start that many games in the Championship.

"He is a good signing for a number of reasons, but I don't think he is a great signing. He is an OK signing. I have got him down as a six out of 10.

"He is probably a good bargain, summer strength, squad-filling signing."

Listen to the full podcast on BBC Sounds

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The latest episode of BBC Radio Solent's Saints And Sinners podcast has dropped on BBC Sounds.

Tom Deacon and Adam Blackmore bring you Southampton chat, including more transfer updates from St Mary's.

Listen to the full episode now

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The transfer window opens on Friday, and we want to know what matters to you most this summer.

If you could only buy one, sell one, and loan out one player at Southampton, who would you pick?

Tell us here, external