Can Southampton move be what Cyle Larin needs to reignite slowly fading CanMNT World Cup aspirations?

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In his final effort to win a spot on the CanMNT’s 2026 World Cup squad, Cyle Larin has pushed all of his chips into the middle of the table. 

After an unsuccessful half-season on loan at Dutch giants Feyenoord, Larin has sought out a new opportunity in the January transfer window, as he’s joined EFL Championship side Southampton FC on a deadline-day loan from RCD Mallorca. 

Cyle Larin arrives on loan from RCD Mallorca, with an option to make the transfer permanent in the summer 😇

— Southampton FC (@SouthamptonFC) February 2, 2026

Now, a massive few months await Larin, who scored just one goal and had one assist in 15 appearances for Feyenoord, playing only 402 minutes across that span. 

For someone whose CanMNT stock has been slipping for a while now, it was a disastrous loan spell, as he was just never really able to get going while in Rotterdam, despite initially looking like a good fit for his new club. 

Because of that, it has opened the door for this move to Southampton, which could be a career-defining chapter for Larin, who is now at his fifth club in the past four seasons. 

Other than a magical half-season with La Liga side Real Valladolid in 2022-2023, where he had eight goals and three assists, it’s otherwise been a pretty tough slog for Larin across that span, too. He also had some good moments at Mallorca, such as the four goals he scored on their surprise run to the Copa Del Rey final in 2023-2024, or the seven La Liga goals he had in 2024-2025, but despite that, he was never able to match the watermark he set in that half-season with Valladolid. 

Yet, that’s been the story of Larin’s career in Europe to date. In the right system, he has had some incredible patches of form, but he’s also been susceptible to extended slumps. 

At Southampton, they’ll hope they can get the best version out of Larin, such as the one that scored 23 goals across all competitions for Besiktas en route to a domestic double in 2020-2021. 

The good news, though, is that the opportunity will be there for Larin to play at Southampton. Part of the reason this move made sense for him was due to the circumstances Southampton currently faces, as they sold their starting striker and leading scorer, Adam Armstrong, to Wolverhampton Wanderers on deadline day. 

That means that Larin should immediately have a spot in manager Tonda Eckert’s team, slotting in as the main striker in either Southampton’s preferred 3-4-2-1 (used in 43% of their matches so far in 2025-2026) or 4-2-3-1 (used in 17% of their games) - certainly, it feels like he has a better chance than current strikers Cameron Archer (four goals, one assists in all competitions) or Ross Stewart (three goals, two assists), who haven’t featured much for the Saints this season. 

After hardly playing at Feyenoord, that’s great news for Larin, who should certainly get the minutes he needs to find his form again - even if he has to battle to earn a starting spot.

Speaking of his form, though, that’s the million-dollar question that Southampton are asking with this loan - can he rediscover it in England? 

For someone who turned 30 last year, it’s a big gamble to head to the Championship, which is one of the most physically demanding leagues in Europe, both in terms of style of play and schedule. 

At the same time, he does join a team begging for a player of his profile. 

Despite all of his struggles over the past few years, Larin has retained a knack for generating chances at a pretty great rate - his bigger issue has been finishing them. 

With Feyenoord, he generated a whopping 0.65 xG per 90 despite his limited minutes, thanks to his shooting volume (3.01 shots per 90) and touches in the box (4.14 per 90), but he just couldn’t score. That was best summed up by his last start for Feyenoord, in which he missed a whopping four big chances. 

Bad luck or bad day? 🥲

CanMNT 🇨🇦 striker Cyle Larin had a rare start for Feyenoord, but couldn't make the most of it in a 2-1 loss in Europa League action vs. Real Betis 😕 pic.twitter.com/kAwPy3CRXU

— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) January 29, 2026

Then, at Mallorca, while he struggled to generate xG on the 2024-2025 Mallorca side (0.29 xG per 90 across all competitions), he fared better in 2023-2024, as he had an impressive 0.46 xG per 90 - although he scored just 0.25 goals per 90. 

Even in 2022-2023, the numbers are similar - with Real Valladolid, he had 0.44 xG per 90 (and 0.45 goals per 90, thanks to his purple patch), and at Club Brugge, he had 0.54 xG per 90 (but just 0.22 goals, hence his eventual loan and sale to Valladolid). 

What that shows, though, is that no matter the team or system, and how many minutes he plays, Larin tends to generate good xG numbers, even if his ability to finish them varies. 

That’s worth noting, because that skill does tend to translate from team to team.

Here's Larin's numbers from the Eredivisie in 2025-2026, on a per 90 basis. As seen here, he did a great job of generating chances in his limited minutes, but he struggled to finish them (FotMob)

Now, the big thing to watch out for at Southampton is how they deploy Larin. Among his recent teams, what stood out at his best stop, Valladolid, was that not only was he earning regular minutes, but he was the focal point in the attack. 

By comparison, at Mallorca, he was one of two up front, usually playing a secondary role alongside someone like Vedat Muriqi, while at Brugge and Feyenoord, he was playing a rotational role off the bench (even if those roles clearly allowed him to generate good chances).

Here's Larin's last 75 shots taken at the club level - as seen above, he's taken a lot of quality attempts, even if he hasn't been able to turn them into the goals he's maybe deserved to (WyScout)

At Southampton, it appears that he’ll get the sort of responsibility that he should do well to handle, both in terms of minutes and his role leading the line. 

Plus, when looking at the numbers, they’re set up for him to earn chances - per WyScout, Southampton are second in the Championship in total xG (55.57) and xG per shot (0.138) - despite that, they sit seventh in goals, which along with their porous defence, explains why they sit 14th (although they sit just seven points behind a playoff spot, such is the Championship this season). 

In theory, though, that means Larin should get plenty of service if he plays up front for his new club, and perhaps that’ll be what he needs to find form again - sometimes, for a streakier scorer, the best way to get over slumps, and then stay in form, is a volume approach. 

Cyle Larin scores his first goal for Feyenoord 🎯⚽️

The Canadian striker netted the third goal in a 3-1 victory over Panathinaikos in Matchday 3 of the UEFA Europa League 🇨🇦👏@DAZNFootball | @CANMNT_Official | #UEL

— DAZN Canada (@DAZN_CA) October 23, 2025

Certainly, he’ll have to hope that is the case, because it cannot be understated how big an opportunity this is for him. If he cannot win a spot and score goals for a team that needs a striker and has generated chances by the bucketload this season, it’ll be hard for him to justify making the World Cup spot ahead of some of the other Canadian forwards who have been making big moves on and off the pitch in recent months. 

Once upon a time, Larin formed a big two with Jonathan David for Canada, with the two even flip-flopping spots in the CanMNT’s all-time scoring race for a period - it’s safe to say that David has now pulled away for good there. 

GOAL 🇨🇦

CYLE LARIN makes it 1-0 for the #CanMNT vs. Panama!

It's a lesson in Maplepressing as Canada's high press turns over the ball and Larin scores from the turnover at the stroke of half-time 😎

🔴 Watch LIVE on OneSoccer pic.twitter.com/Pyo3nEqjvl

— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) October 16, 2024

Now, though, Larin’s not just behind David in the pecking order, but also Tani Oluwaseyi, who has done well since moving to La Liga side Villarreal CF, and Promise David, who has been excellent with Union St-Gilloise. 

And even a race to be the fourth striker isn’t so straightforward - Daniel Jebbison has had good periods in the Championship this year, Theo Bair has been great in Switzerland, Jacen Russell-Rowe has just made a massive move to Ligue 1, and Charles Andreas Brym is quietly catching form in the Eredivisie. 

All of a sudden, in a competitive striker race, Larin’s struggling form has made him an odd man out, even despite his impressive historical scoring record and experience. Such is the life of playing for a rapidly growing National Team, as it quickly becomes about ‘what can I do for you now’ instead of ‘what have I done’.

Because of that, for Larin to earn a spot, he’ll need to find his form and show that he can still bring something that makes him worth bringing over the likes of Jebbison, Bair, Russell-Rowe and Brym, especially if he has to play more of a supersub role this summer. 

He doesn’t have to light the world on fire at Southampton - one of the benefits of being an experienced veteran is that you don’t have to go above and beyond the same way an unproven player might have to - but he’ll have to at least score 5-10 goals while putting up good performances in this half-season stint. 

That’s why he’s made this move, though, as scoring 5-10 goals doesn’t seem impossible if he hits the ground running and plays to his level. Clearly, it wasn’t happening at Feyenoord, but he has the opportunity to do well at Southampton. 

Yet, that’s the bet that he’s making. By putting all of his chips in the middle, he’s looking to prove that he can thrive in a system that seems to be set up nicely for him - now, it’ll be seen whether or not that was the right move for him to keep pace in a busy Canadian striker race. 

To his credit, he clearly fancies a challenge, which is why he’s gone to the Championship and not to MLS, as some speculated he might do, but he’ll have to prove that he can thrive in one of the most demanding leagues in Europe - and then build from there.