Southampton have been looking for a new goalkeeper in order to help the Saints stay above the drop zone this time around in the Premier League, and they had a few candidates to choose from.
Many rumors linked Southampton to Arsenal backup goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale, who is, at worst, a league average starting goalkeeper and would have been a decent option for the returning Premier League side.
However, Southampton decided to balk on Ramsdale as an option because of his bloated wages and because of the fact that he would have been acquired on an initial loan deal.
Instead, Dutch outlet Telegraaf’s Marcel van der Kraan reports that Southampton will pay just eight million euros for their next goalkeeper, Feyenoord starter Justin Bijlow.
Although Bijlow only saved 65.9 percent of the shots he faced, but in the prior season, when Feyenoord won the Eredivisie, Bijlow stopped 75.3 percent of the shots at his goal, the third time in his career he exceeded a 75 save percentage.
Bijlow is in the prime of his career at 26, and he has been one of the top performing keepers in European football for most of his career with Feyenoord, based on the save percentages.
Because of that, Bijlow is rated as being worth 13 million euros on the open market by Transfermarkt, so if Southampton are paying just 8 million euros for the Dutch goalkeeper, they are getting him at around 40 percent less than his expected valuation.
That’s a great deal for Southampton. They are getting a solid goalkeeper who can get better over the next five years, and they are getting him at a reasonable price. Compare that to paying 2.5 million pounds plus 80 percent of the wages for Ramsdale, and you realize that Bijlow is the much better deal.
Players like Bijlow who have made their name outside of the top five leagues are often underrated, whereas English players in the Premier League are rated more than they should be.
Credit to Southampton for getting a smart deal instead of jumping at the bigger name just to make the splash. There’s no need to go for the obvious choice, especially in goal. Bijlow is a strong bounce-back candidate from his mediocre 2023/24 season, too.
