Ambitious Azaz targets Championship title
Finn Azaz believes the expectation should be for Southampton to win the Sky Bet Championship title this season.
The attacking midfielder has put pen to paper on a four-year deal at St Mary’s after two exceptional Championship seasons that have established himself as one of the most productive playmakers in the league.
Having spoken to Will Still prior to signing, the 24-year-old, who has played in 93 out of 95 second-tier matches since winning promotion with Plymouth in 2022/23, is clear on what the team’s ambition should be.
“Two seasons ago I didn’t really enjoy playing against Southampton,” Azaz said. “Both times it was really, really tough. Obviously a lot of the players are still here and I remember playing against them – there’s some top, top players in the squad. The depth is scary, to be honest.
“Knowing the league and knowing the players, I can see the club is a Premier League club and deserves to be back in the Premier League.
“I’m established at this level, however this is a lot more expectation. The expectation is to win the league – that should be the expectation, looking at the squad, looking at the size of the club, the manager. Me and him spoke about it – the expectation and what we should be doing is winning the league.
“I think we have similar philosophies on a lot of parts of the game. We had a really in-depth conversation about football as a whole and how to win, and the freedom he gives his players out there as well.
“There’s a framework, but you can see that he puts a lot of trust in his players to figure things out and I pride myself on that, so we saw eye to eye on a lot of things. The ability to adapt I think is quite rare in a lot of players, and I think I’m definitely able to do that.”
Azaz has worked his way up through the divisions, winning the League Two title with Cheltenham in 2020/21 and the League One title with Plymouth two years later prior to joining Middlesbrough, where he registered 34 goal contributions in 67 Championship appearances.
“I’ve always believed in myself,” he said. “There have always been people at every level saying ‘he can’t do it’ – in League Two it was the same, in League One it was the same, the Championship was the same.
“No one wanted me in the Championship after the League One season, and there are still those doubters, so I’m really, really excited to prove I can play for a Premier League club. I know we’re in the Championship now, but we’re trying to operate at Premier League level to ultimately get promoted and win the league to get back to the Premier League.
“There will be pressure but that’s part of it. Teams will be more motivated when they come and play Southampton. I’m looking forward to that.”
Memberships are available now at just £30 for Adults and £20 for Juniors. Get early ticket access, discounts across the club and more!
