Southampton are closing in on a new signing in January

Even with Russell Martin, who has now gone to St. Mary’s, SouthamptonThe season continues to look increasingly gloomy with Ivan Jurić at the helm.

Sunday’s defeat to Nottingham Forest in the Premier League means the dreaded Saints have lost an alarming 18 Premier League appearances this season, with just six points collected in 22 mostly depressing clashes.

The Croatian saw some signs of life in his Southampton side to claw back two goals in a 3-2 defeat at the City Ground, but will know he needs major fresh blood regardless to try and pull off an improbable escape from relegation, with one new signing he will reportedly join the basement club very soon.

The Saints are closing in on a deal for the Danish ace

According to a French journalist Marc MechenouaOn account X, Southampton are close to securing the services of Rennes midfielder Albert Gronbaek, with the Saints reportedly aiming to complete his medical today.

The deal would see the Dane join the build-up on a loan-to-buy basis, with the fee required to win the 23-year-old amounting to around £13m according to Mechenoua.

While his time in France so far has not been electric, Saints will be hoping they can bring the Scandinavian back to his best when he regularly thrilled fans at Bodo Glimt before moving to Ligue 1.

What Gronbaek could offer the Saints

While this may not be the signature signing that keeps Juric’s side afloat in the Premier League, it could still be a morale boost on the south coast, with Mateus Fernandes once a relatively unknown entity himself after arriving last summer from afar – beyond European shores, only to now be one of Saints’ best performers.

Before we delve deeper into Gronbaek’s impressive numbers in his native Denmark, Fernandes was a welcome positive for Juric to latch on to during his dismal early days as a manager, with the Portuguese midfielder a standout in that defeat to Forest.

Indeed, the former Sporting man got an assist in the game when Paul Onuachu met his corner kick late on, with three key passes and two successful dribbles from the smart 20-year-old who constantly pushed his side up the pitch when they could have given up.

He could be joined by a new teammate in the middle of the park soon in Gronbaek, who would give the Saints even more freshness at center away from Flynn Downes, Will Smallbone and Joe Arib already in the building.

While none of those options were particularly bad – apart from Downes looking a little out of sorts against Nuno Espirito Santo’s players with Juric joining him at half-time – the new addition could end up being a repeat of Fernandes’ change, with the 23-year-old a goal machine and an assist when he played in Denmark.

Looking at the table above, it’s clear why Rennes have pounced on the 5-foot-9 midfielder, with an impressive combination of goals and assists 38 in total he made it out of a total of 72 games playing in the middle of the park in his native country.

Of course, things didn’t go according to plan for Gronbaek at his new location only two goals and one assist picked up from 18 contests, but Southampton need an injection of more creativity to boost their paltry total only 15 goals in the leagueand Gronbaek may be their desired man.

While he might not be able to pull his new team out of the relegation mire upon his arrival, Jurić would still welcome fresh bodies, with the tiniest glimmer of hope that they can somehow survive if everything falls into place.