Southampton got a deal over the line on January’s transfer deadline day.

The club signed Takumi Minamino from Liverpool, though he was not able to make his debut against Manchester United.

Instead, he watched on as the club lost 9-0 to Manchester United, in a truly historic result.

However, it has now emerged that the club could have done a deal for a Championship player but manager Ralph Hasenhuttl opted against signing off on a deal.

Football Insider reports that the Saints boss was given the chance to sign Joshua King from AFC Bournemouth in a part-exchange deal that would have seen Shane Long move to the lower-league club.

King moved to Everton instead and the report states that the club could have beaten the Toffees to the move.

Hasenhuttl, though, rejected the possibility and instead pushed for the signing of Minamino , who did end up at St Mary’s, because he does not rate the Norway international.

King did not score a single goal for Bournemouth in the Championship this season before his move. Long moved to the Cherries on a separate deal.

GIVEMESPORT’S Harry Sherlock says…

Hasenhuttl may not actually be wrong.

It remains to be seen whether Everton will reap the benefit of their deal for the player.

But King’s numbers are remarkably poor.

He did score six goals in 26 games last season in the Premier League but he failed to net in 12 Championship outings.

Since 2018/19, when he scored 12 times, his form has been on a downward slide.