No more sleepless nights! Southampton agree £18m deal for West Ham star - after manager Russell Martin claimed he would 'cry himself to sleep' if he could not sign him

Southampton have agreed an £18m deal to sign Flynn Downes from West Ham pending his medical.

Downes, 25, was on loan at Saints last season and was a key part of their promotion form the Championship.

Manager Russell Martin previously claimed he would 'cry himself to sleep' if Southampton had been unable to get the deal over the line. 

Downes, a boyhood Hammers fan, joined the London outfit from Swansea in 2022 on a five-year deal.

He made 35 appearances for them in his debut season but was farmed out to Saints for the 2023-24 campaign and made 37 outings. 

His loan to the south coast was actually delayed due to a bout of food poisoning. Both he and manager Martin will be hoping for no such hiccups this time. 

Martin recently said: 'Hopefully, before the end of the summer, he will be in a Southampton shirt.

'If he's not, I will cry myself to sleep. It will take more time. We just have to be patient. I wanted him here last week, four weeks ago even.'

Saints have already made five additions to their squad including Taylor Harwood-Bellis - making his loan from Manchester City permanent for £20million - and Adam Lallana on a free transfer.

As well as Harwood-Bellis and Lallana, once of their youth academy, Saints have added Yukinara Sugawara, Nathan Wood, Ronnie Edwards, Charlie Taylor, and Rento Takaoka to their ranks. 

Discussing their transfer policy, dugout overlord Martin, who recently signed a new three-year deal, said: 'We need to add in a few areas. We are looking to strengthen the squad as much as we can within the financial limits that won't put the club under any pressure.

'I think we have recruited really well so far. On the whole, they have been British players who want to be at Southampton.

'That's really important. We won't just sign players who want to play in the Premier League and earn lots of money.

'So far, we have signed players who are desperate to be here and don't just see this as a place where they can come to earn a move to another club.

'There is a balance to be had. We have signed young players who have played a lot of football in England.

'We have Adam Lallana who in his first week has already made a huge difference on the training pitch.

'The way he trains and the way he conducts himself, he is going to be a huge asset to the group. Charlie Taylor is the same.

'We have balanced Ronnie and Woody, two outstanding young centre-backs, with Charlie and Adam.

'We will sign players with experience. I think some people can undervalue experience but we will sign some players who are exciting moving forward as well.'