The Southampton boss has taken his players to Spain for a week of warm weather training where they will face two French sides in Bordeaux and Montpellier in pre-season friendlies.
Russell Martin has already overseen his first friendly of the summer, as Southampton beat National League side Eastleigh 7-1 on Friday night.
One point of interest that night was the goalkeeper situation, with Alex McCarthy and returning loanee Mateusz Lis playing half each and Joe Lumley not featuring.
With first-choice stopper Gavin Bazunu set to be sidelined well into the new season with an Achilles injury, Martin has a big decision to make in the goalkeeper department and he has been speaking on how he views the situation.
Russell Martin confirms Alex McCarthy is currently Southampton first-choice
With Bazunu picking up an injury in the warm up of the 3-0 win over Preston in April, it was McCarthy who Martin trusted to step in at the last minute.
This was despite McCarthy not even being named in the match-day squad and meant Lumley was surprisingly snubbed despite being named on the bench.
McCarthy played the remainder of the season and impressed in the play-offs to earn a new deal, whilst Lis earned promotion on loan at Southampton’s sister club Goztepe.
With numerous links to goalkeepers already this summer, Martin revealed his position to the Daily Echo, as he said: “This situation will sort of open up in the next few weeks because I think Matty [Lis] wants to play football.
“He had a really good season at Goztepe. As it stands, he’s probably behind Alex. He’s competing with Joe for that slot behind him because Alex is a top goalkeeper.”
Martin went on to add: “But I think his situation will be dictated by him and if he really wants to go and play football or stay here and really fight. I’ll respect his decision either way.
“That will dictate what we do in the goalkeeping department. After what Alex did at the end of last season, I think he’s earned the right to be first choice.”
However, the Saints boss refused to rule out a new goalkeeper arriving this summer, saying: “But as I said, if we lose one, and then someone else comes in, you just never know, do you? It’s the same for any player in the squad.”
Southampton must sign number one goalkeeper this summer
McCarthy stepped up admirably last season but it would be naive to go into the season with just the 34-year-old and one of Lis or Lumley.
Bazunu’s best attribute is his distribution and he is key to how Martin wants his side to play, whilst with McCarthy it was clear that Southampton were forced to adjust their style slightly due to his shortcomings with the ball at his feet.
Martin will need his players to execute his tactics close to perfectly on a weekly basis to win games in the Premier League and that means they cannot afford to compromise on a position as crucial as goalkeeper.
The St Mary’s club have been linked with moves for Brighton’s Jason Steele and Arsenal number two Aaron Ramsdale.
A move for Steele now seems unlikely given Bart Verbruggen’s injury and Ramsdale is valued at £30 million.
However, Arsenal are said to be willing to allow the England international to leave on loan and perhaps that could represent the best option for Southampton and allow Martin to reassess next summer once Bazunu has returned.
