The EFL Championship will have another American talent in its midst.
Southampton acquired U.S. men’s national team forward Damion Downs in a permanent deal from German side Cologne, both clubs announced Wednesday. Downs signed a four-year contract with the English second-tier club.
“Damion is a player we have been monitoring for some time who possesses excellent physical qualities and the ability to disrupt defense,” Southampton technical director Johannes Spors said.
“Strengthening our attacking options was one of our top priorities this summer, and Damion is a player who will add real quality to the group, he added. “Despite his relatively young age he is already a senior international, so we are excited to see him thrive in the environment here at Southampton.”
Downs most recently completed CONCACAF Gold Cup duty with the USMNT, helping Mauricio Pochettino’s squad reach the tournament final. A former German youth national team player, Downs scored 11 goals for Cologne in the 2. Bundesliga last season, helping the club earn promotion back to the top-flight.
He will now join a Southampton side that is seeking an immediate bounce-back to the English Premier League.
“Everybody plays football to win titles,” Downs said. “To win my first title at 20 last year was a great feeling, and I hope to repeat it again this year.
“I think Southampton is a big club that should be in the Premier League, and that’s my goal, to help the team as much as I can to bring the club back to the Premier League,” he added.
Southampton opens its 2025-26 season on August 9 at home against newly-promoted Wrexham.
let’s see here. first, we have a coach who has worked a lot in england, and who has revived the fortunes of at least one player just because he saw him while he was there (steffen).
second, we have a team who tends to call based on stats over location. and so downs gets called and not reyna or campbell. so you want to play someplace you can predictably light it up, as opposed to get ambitious. or one risks “pepi 2022.”
third, while factually B.2 is better than c’ship, in practice we play a bunch of c’ship and dutch league guys, downs barely plays, and green’s not been called in years. so he’s going to the league where when sargent puts up numbers, sargent gets called again — even if he sucks in the NT games after.
fourth, i see this move as in line with the historic NT approach, before we became snobs or could get signed much at big clubs. on the eve of the world cup you set yourself up to play a lot. you do not leave it to chance. if you are confused talk to gio reyna. and cole campbell has the same problem. we seem to prefer second division with playing time over top first division as a sub. is that talent scouting or is that reading box scores. i think downs has made his guess which matters.
“third, while factually B.2 is better than c’ship,” no that’s an opinion. It’s also not opinion shared by very many others.
So, he helped them get to the bundi, but not good enough to play there.
I’m not so sure Downs wasn’t the one who was looking to end the relationship.
Moving from a Bundesliga team to a Championship team seems like a step backward, but maybe the money that Southampton can pay is greater than what Koln can pay.
It isn’t close, actually. Southampton’s wage bill last year was £50.5 million pounds – or about $69 million dollars. Koln spent €21.6 million euros – or about $25 million dollars, a bit less than Atlanta United ($27.6M) and way less than Toronto ($34.1M) or Inter Miami ($46.8M). Southampton will undoubtedly spend less this year because they got relegated, but they still have those “parachute” payments from the Prem and they’ll retain a sizeable portion of their old wage bill, at least for the first season – and still significantly larger than Koln’s, even though Koln will be playing in the B1.
So yeah, Downs will likely make more at Southampton – probably a lot more. He’ll also have better players around him…though Koln will be playing in a tougher league.
Downs is still in a real good spot, IMHO. Southampton is likely to bounce right back up this year – those parachute payments are a huge edge, see Leeds for how that works – and success at Southampton this year could get him looks in the Bundesliga or the Prem. Whereas Koln is likely going to take it in the teeth – that level of spending puts them in the bottom third of the B1, and they’ll have to fight hard to stay up.
Yeah, playing in the Championship on a team that could challenge to go back up versus a Koln who will be fighting for survival is better. Mostly because he’s a forward. Koln will not be in the attacking half much this season. Goals will be at a premium. Because attacking will be at a premium. As with any move for any player – i hope he gets a good amount of playing time.
All these championship strikers will be fun to watch to see who emerges for the WC. Sargent, Dike, Wright, Downs, and all reports indicate Agye going to Derby.
But reports are stating Burnley is in pole position to sign Sargent from Norwich. So Sargent may be in the Premier league this upcoming season.
I’m just not sure how I see Sargent fitting in at Burnley. Their kits are claret and Josh’s hair is *flaming* red. It’s just a bit of a color clash.
Also been rumored interest from Roma, that would also not be a good look.
Roma are more of a merlot. I think he could make it work. Plus, Roma just shipped Tammy Abraham to Beşiktaş.
Jamie,
They have away kits which are black and the third kit which has a white shirt.
People underrate the importance of looking good but tell me did we have a Goalkeeping crisis when they all looked like Lex Luthor?
No way.
If Turner was really serious he would shave his beard and his head.
He would be aerodynamically cleaner and his chances of getting to that penalty or that shot would be better.