Southampton must try to win this Taylor Harwood-Bellis replacement before the deadline

Southampton supporters didn't know it at the time but it now appears as if Taylor Harwood-Bellis' last ever game in Saints red and white was up against Watford on the opening day of the Championship season.

Unfortunately, the Saints stalwart looks as if he'll be bowing out on a 2-1 defeat, rather than featuring during Tonda Eckert and Co's emphatic 5-1 win over Millwall as one final hurrah.

He hasn't been risked across recent matches, as transfer speculation continued to swirl, and it looks as if the former Manchester City youngster, turned hot commodity, is about to move back to the Premier League before the September cut-off.

Harwood-Bellis nearing to a move away

News broke on Sunday, only a day on from the Saints' memorable 5-1 triumph over Millwall, that Harwood-Bellis would be leaving the club, after weeks of speculation.

Indeed, he is in the latter stages of sealing a move to Unai Emery's Aston Villa, who clearly need defensive reinforcements after they lost 4-0 to Brighton and Hove Albion on the opening day in the Premier League, with the move costing the Midlands giants around £30m.

Set to complete a medical this Bank Holiday Monday, it's a sad, but inevitable piece of news for Southampton fans to become accustomed to, with Harwood-Bellis arguably one of the best defenders on his day in the entire Championship.

Keven Schlotterbeck has already arrived through the door to bolster Eckert's options at the back, so the Saints have been proactive in preparing for a post-Harwood Bellis world at St. Mary's.

But, if they want to really send a statement out that they want to be near the top of the league standings, even with their star-man gone, they must try to win this dream successor in the nick of time.

Southampton must try to win this dream successor

Losing a centre-back of Harwood-Bellis' prestige is a huge blow.

Indeed, he scored seven second tier goals last season as a constant threat aerially, all while maintaining a calmness on the ball as a permanent first-team fixture under Eckert.

The German would even outwardly note that his reliable number six was a very "important" part of his group, earlier this month, before his move to Villa felt more concrete.

The woes of losing such an integral part of the Saints machine would lessen somewhat, though, if Eckert and Co. were to win Henrik Falchener at the final hour, with the Viking colossus arguably the perfect replacement for Harwood-Bellis.

Last year in the Norwegian top-flight, Falchener would rival Harwood-Bellis' goalscoring numbers with six goals confidently put away from 29 Eliteseren outings, with one of his Viking teammates, Peter Buch Christiansen, labelling the imposing 23-year-old as being "really dangerous from attacking set-pieces."

Further dubbed as a monster who "wins everything" by Christansen, Falchener should be able to handle the intensity of the Championship, if he were to leave Norway behind for a fresh challenge in England.

With an 89% pass accuracy averaged too last year in Eliteseren action, he really does stand out as an ideal substitute for Harwood-Bellis, but there is a catch.

Reports from Norway have suggested that Viking have turned down a recent bid from Eckert's men, as transfer deadline day begins to loom, with the gap in valuation 'far too large' to be reconciled.

Currently, Southampton look as if they've given up on Falchener's signature, but if they want to win the best possible successor to Harwood-Bellis, which are big shoes to fill, they must try and work out an agreement at the death.