Southampton

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Southampton defender Armel Bella-Kotchap's loan move to Serie A side Hellas Verona has been turned into a permanent transfer.

BBC Radio Solent report that Saints will receive €5m (£4.32m) for the centre-half, who was signed by the club in 2022.

So far this season, Bella-Kotchap has played 15 times for the Italian side across all competitions. They currently sit bottom of the league in 20th, four points from safety.

He made 31 appearances for Southampton and the loan to Serie A was his second since joining Saints, coming after a spell with Dutch side PSV Eindhoven in 2023.

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Crystal Palace striker Jean-Philippe Mateta's move to AC Milan is in serious doubt over issues with his medical, according to multiple BBC Sport sources.

The 28-year-old France forward had additional medical tests on Monday but the Italian side are set to pull out of the £30m deal.

Mateta, who has been nursing a knee issue, had an initial medical examination on Sunday.

The Eagles have agreed a £48m deal for Wolves forward Jorgen Strand Larsen and had granted Mateta permission to have a medical in London before flying to Milan.

Palace still intend to try to sign Strand Larsen.

Wolves, meanwhile, were moving to replace Strand Larsen and are close to reaching a deal for Southampton striker Adam Armstrong for an initial £7m.

There is growing confidence the move will be done with the Premiership's bottom club Wolves in danger of relegation to the Championship.

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Southampton defender Juan Larios has completed a loan move to Real Zaragoza.

The 22-year-old has joined the Spanish second tier side for the remainder of the current campaign.

He had previously been on loan at Cultural y Deportiva Leonesa for the first six months of the season, making just three starts.

Zaragoza are currently second from bottom in the Segunda Division with former Southampton and Hull City boss Ruben Selles in charge, having taken over in October.

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Today is the final chance of the season for your Championship team to do transfer business.

The window closes at 19:00 GMT, meaning teams - and fans - can avoid the usual late-night transfer scramble.

It has already been a busy window - for some teams anyway - but whether it turns out to be a day of transfer action or a pretty quiet one for your club, you will be able to keep across it all on BBC Sport.

Follow our live text coverage throughout the day here

Nick Mashiter
Football reporter

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Wolves are close to agreeing a deal for Southampton striker Adam Armstrong for an initial £7m - as forward Jorgen Strand Larsen moves closer to joining Crystal Palace.

There is a growing confidence the move will get done as Wolves build for an expected relegation to the Championship.

The 28-year-old has 11 goals for Saints in the Championship this season, contributing to a tally of 43 for the club since joining from Blackburn in 2021.

Southampton boss Tonda Eckert spoke to BBC Radio Solent following their win against Stoke City.

"It's a tough ground to come to. It's not an easy place to play. We knew how important this was and we've been working for so long to earn more clean sheets," he said.

"I think you can see that we are moving forward. Today the dead ball situations were on our side and that's what makes a difference in the end.

"I definitely think we're going in the right direction first and foremost. Obviously there are many more games to play.

"You know how quick things change in both directions. We need to take the positive from the last game to make sure we continue, especially with the home games coming up."

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Former Southampton player Adam Lallana has been named the permanent head coach of the Championship club's under-21 team.

The former Liverpool and England player was appointed as interim boss in November and will now take on the role full-time.

Lallana rejoined Southampton from Brighton & Hove Albion in the summer of 2024 before retiring a year later at the age of 37.

He took on a first-team coaching role at Saints with former boss Will Still, and continued those duties for a short period when Tonda Eckert took over as interim boss after Still's dismissal.

"As soon as I knew the opportunity was there to help out with the Under-21s and get more hands-on with coaching I was extremely excited," Lallana told the club website. , external

"It feels right that I'm at the football club where I came through the academy, I feel like I owe the club a lot in terms of giving back in any way I can to help the young boys develop.

"The pathway feels open, we've had some debutants this year so it's exciting and I'm relishing this time."

Southampton captain Jack Stephens believes there is still plenty of time to recover their season and finish in a Championship play-off spot.

The Saints are 15th and seven points behind Wrexham in sixth after just one win in their past nine games (D4 L4).

"I think there's always been belief and I think even when you're on a little bit of a sticky run, you have to believe in yourself," Stephens told BBC Radio Solent before the trip to Stoke on Saturday.

"Maybe we did lose a little bit of that through that bad run, but there was still belief that we could chase down the teams above us and get ourselves into the play-off spots.

"Certainly after that Sheffield United result [1-0 win] there was an increase in belief that we really can chase them down and it's there for us.

"There's loads of games left to play. It's there for us if we really want to get it and it's up to us."

Tonda Eckert's side have struggled away from home in recent weeks with two draws and four losses from their past six on the road.

"Obviously the point on Sunday [at Portsmouth] is disappointing because we felt we dropped two points, but it was a point away from home in a really tough game," Stephens said.

"So we have to try and spin the positives on that and go into this game against Stoke with full belief to get three points."

Stephens says having eight teams between themselves and the top six is "a bit of a problem" because they need "two or three wins" to recover the gap, but is still confident they can.

"I think we play most of them because we've got 17 games left," he added.

"So I still believe it is in our hands. If we win enough games, we'll get there, which is a good place to be."

Southampton defender Taylor Harwood-Bellis is being eyed for a return to the Premier League, with Everton and Burnley keen on the 24-year-old, who has one England cap. (Football Insider, external)

Want more transfer news from the EFL? Take a look at Friday's gossip column here.

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Stoke will seek to get back to winning ways as they welcome Southampton to the Bet365 Stadium on Saturday (12:30 GMT).

The Potters are winless in three games and four without a league victory at home to sit 10th, albeit only two points outside the top-six going into the weekend.

A Friday night win for Bristol City would however mean a play-off spot is beyond Mark Robins' men, even with a win.

Saints are five points back in 15th and will be seeking to end a six-game winless streak on the road during which they have earned just two points.

• Stoke have won their past two league games against Southampton (1-0 in April 2024 and 2-1 in August 2025), and could win three in a row against the Saints for the first time ever.

• Southampton could lose home and away against Stoke in a league campaign for the first time since the 1967/68 campaign, in the English top-flight.

• Stoke are winless in their past four Championship home games (D2 L2), and last went five in a row without a home victory on Boxing Day 2024 (5 – D3 L2).

• Southampton won their first two away league matches under Tonda Eckert (v QPR and Charlton), but have since failed to win any of their past six on the road (D2 L4).

• Sorba Thomas has been directly involved in 44% of Stoke's goals in the Championship this season (15/34 – 9 goals, 6 assists); the highest percentage by a player for any team in 2025/26.

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Portsmouth and Southampton have been charged by the Football Association after a mass confrontation during Sunday's south coast derby.

Players from both sides clashed in the 69th minute of the 1-1 Championship draw at Fratton Park.

Tempers flared after Flynn Downes and Zak Swanson squared up to each other after a heavy challenge by Saints midfielder Downes.

Both clubs have been charged with failing to ensure that their players did not behave in an improper and/or provocative way.

The two sides have until Friday to provide a response to the charges.