26-year-old Saint’s next destination tipped as retracing steps but with a catch

West Ham’s £20m interest in Aaron Ramsdale could see the ex-Arsenal keeper complete an intriguing London return.

Let’s be honest, except for the initial days, Southampton hasn’t looked sufficient to extract anything brilliant collectively this season. But the same wasn’t the case for all the Saints individually, all the time.

This is because, at a stage early in this year, some club stars looked certain to leapfrog success in their careers through this season. Yet, sadly, that dream seems over as well.

Take, for instance, the cases of English prodigy duo, Tyler Dibling and Taylor Harood-Bellis. Once, looking certain to bag extraordinary deals for Southampton, it’s been a long time since they attracted any transfer offers.

And frustratingly, the duo’s counterproductive influence has worked against the Saints’ favour too. Just see how, despite delivering his best, the duo’s senior, keeper Aaron Ramsdale, looks set to retrace back in his career trajectory too.

It’s Ramsdale being close to a London return, but with a catch this time.

West Ham confident to complete Aaron Ramsdale’s London return

This is because having once been an integral part of Arsenal’s title race, Ramsdale now realistically looks closer to a move to their struggling London counterparts, West Ham.

As per the Football League World, the Hammers currently stand as one of the favourites to sign Ramsdale. And, intriguingly, West Ham believe their modest £20m could be enough to win the ex-Arsenal man’s transfer services this summer.

Now, neither Ramsdale hopes to stay at Southampton, nor does the club feel optimistic enough to retain him, yet this way, the keeper’s exit would affect them both.

Clearly, while the Saints will want a transfer at least at Ramsdale’s release clause of £25m, the keeper would want to wait for a better Top Flight opportunity. Still, will the transfer dreams of both parties prove true? It’s one to follow this summer.

How Southampton, Ipswich Town and Leicester City’s wage bills will compare to the rest of Championship

Leicester City, Ipswich Town and Southampton have all suffered relegation straight back to the Championship.

The three clubs gained promotion 12 months ago, but were unable to survive in the top flight beyond one campaign. This is the second year in a row in which the three promoted sides have all been relegated back to the second division.

With Leeds United, Burnley and the eventual play-off winner set to go in the opposite direction, they will all be aiming to break that trend next season.

In the meantime, here we use estimated figures from Capology to see how the recently relegated trio’s wage bills compare to the rest of the teams remaining in the Championship.

Leicester, Southampton and Ipswich’s wage bills

Leicester have the biggest wage bill of the three clubs coming down to the Championship, with the Foxes estimated to be paying around £1.2 million per week to their first-team squad.

Their highest-paid player is Jamie Vardy, who is departing the club at the end of the campaign, meaning that will free up £140,000 per week from their wage bill.

Harry Winks, Boubakary Soumaré and Ricardo Pereira are their next highest-paid players, with the former earning £90,000 per week and the latter pair both on £80,000-a-week.

Meanwhile, Southampton’s weekly wage bill comes to £971,000, with Aaron Ramsdale being their estimated top earner.

The goalkeeper arrived in the summer from Arsenal, and is on a salary of £120,000 per week.

The next highest paid players in the squad are the duo of Jan Bednarek and Joe Aribo, with the pair both earning £70,000 each per week.

Ipswich’s wage bill amounts to £784,000, which is almost half the size of Leicester’s, with the Tractor Boys earning back-to-back promotions to get into the Premier League from League One under Kieran McKenna.

Their highest-paid permanent player is Axel Tuanzebe, with the defender earning £40,000-a-week.

Other high earners include Arijanet Muric and Dara O’Shea, with the pair both on £35,000 per week, with Sam Morsy and Ben Johnson also on £30,000-a-week each.

Highest paid players in the Championship

The highest-paid permanent player in the Championship this season is Patrick Bamford, with the Leeds United forward earning £70,000 per week.

Leeds have four of the five best paid players in the division, including Junior Firpo (£60,000 per week), Pascal Struijk (£50,000) and Dan Jamezs (£50,000), with player-turned-manager Aaron Ramsey rounding out the top five from the relegated Cardiff City (£50,000).

It will come as no surprise, then, that the Whites have the largest payroll in the entire division.

The Yorkshire outfit claimed the Championship title with 100 points, beating out Burnley due to a superior goal difference, while paying £707,500 per week to their squad.

The Clarets are second in this table as well, paying £567,500-a-week, with third-place side Sheffield United also coming third here with a weekly wage cost of £522,500.

Relegated Luton are fourth, while Middlesbrough round out the top five, with the two clubs paying £454,000 and £433,269 per week, respectively.