Southampton confirm Ross Stewart free transfer exit after stalled contract talks

Southampton have officially confirmed that Ross Stewart will leave the club on a free transfer following stalled contract extension talks.

It’s over. Ross Stewart has left Southampton on a free transfer today. Last week, Southampton fans were beaming with huge hopes that all 4 exit-linked players, Daniel Peretz, Cyle Larin, James Bree and Ross Stewart will stay put for 2026/27.

Daniel Peretz and Cyle Larin joined on permanent deals from Bayern Munich and Mallorca respectively, totalling €10m in transfer fees among them. James Bree has put pen to paper on a fresh Southampton deal but Stewart ends up as the odd one out.

Club owner and chairman, Dragan Solak raised fears that Ross Stewart’s automatic contract extension date had long expired. The deadline was until 5 days after the final game of Saints 2025/26 campaign, which happened to be infamously cut short by the ‘Spygate’ scandal and EFL subsequently expelling Southampton from the playoffs final.

Ross Stewart leaves Southampton as a free agent

This afternoon, Southampton announced the retained players list. Right at the top, Saints clearly mentioned that Ross Stewart will walk away from the club as his current deal comes to a close. Honestly, every Saints fan had an idea that some bad news was awaiting over Stewart’s contract, still feels a surprise.

Reason being, Stewart just came on the back of a successful 11-goal season, his best at St. Mary’s by a long mile. The 29-year-old striker also got the FIFA World Cup 2026 call-up for Scotland and was assured of Tonda Eckert staying at the helm, so why consider leaving?

Totally, an unnecessary call from Stewart. Plus, one must not forget that Southampton stayed patient with Stewart’s struggles through thick and thin. Since arriving from Sunderland in a 10m move in 2023, Stewart just managed to play 50 games for the club in 3 years.

33 of them came last season, which also saw the Scot score 11 of his total 12 goals for Southampton. During these years, Southampton geared up for a Premier League season too, and included Stewart in the plans. Many top-flight teams these days waste no time bringing in big-money replacements even if a backup player gets sidelined with injury.

Meanwhile, Southampton never gave up on Stewart’s ability in front of goal. Anyways, the best the club can do from now going forward is replace him appropriately, either by relying on current options like Cameron Archer and Damion Downs or with summer signings.

What next for Ross Stewart after leaving Southampton?

Currently, Stewart will be focused on Scotland’s World Cup 2026 campaign which begins on Sunday. Scotland take on Haiti in Group B, followed by tough fixtures against Morocco and Brazil over the next ten days.

At the moment, Ross Stewart and Scotland look heavy favourites to reach the World Cup knockout stages, rest let’s see. Regarding new club, Stewart will be a top target for Championship sides like West Ham, Burnley, Millwall among others who will definitely be interesting in taking a chance on him.

Scottish outfit Celtic is also linked with an interest in Stewart, and a move back home looks possible as there are no transfer fees involved. Hopefully, Southampton replaces Stewart better for 2026/27 season and beyond.