Last season, Southampton signed prolific Sunderland centre forward Ross Stewart in a £10 million transfer move as the Saints prepared for their Championship campaign.
The Scotland international had two strong goalscoring seasons at Sunderland, netting 26 goals and providing three assists in the 2021/22 season, helping the six-time English champions earn promotion to the Championship. He followed that with 10 goals in the next season. As a result, the Saints strengthened their attack by signing the 28-year-old in hopes of securing a return to the Premier League.
However, Stewart was sidelined for nearly the entire season due to a hamstring injury, limiting him to just four appearances for Russell Martin’s side, all as a second-half substitute. Last month, the 28-year-old fully recovered and made promising substitute appearances against Everton and Bournemouth. With other forwards struggling to find the net early in the season, manager Russell Martin handed Stewart his first Southampton start in a Premier League match against Arsenal.
Russell Martin opens up on £10 million star’s injury
However, things didn’t go well for Stewart, as he had to be substituted around the 30-minute mark due to a muscle injury, with Cameron Archer coming on to replace him. Stewart appeared uncomfortable and was forced off during his first Premier League start. After the 3-1 defeat, manager Russell Martin commented on the injury, saying:
“He’s got a muscle injury. I am absolutely gutted for him. He’s worked so hard to come back. It’s tough for him to handle, but he has immense resilience and character. We’ll have to reassess and see how long he’ll be out.”
Stewart has struggled with injuries at Southampton and may need to spend more time on the sidelines following this latest setback. In his absence, substitute Cameron Archer made an outstanding run into Arsenal’s half, calmly taking a few touches before slotting the ball past David Raya into the bottom corner. Southampton will be hoping Archer can continue scoring regularly in the Premier League while the Scotland international recovers.
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