Five of the 10 new arrivals at the Stadium of Light started for Sunderland last weekend as they went down 1-0 at home to Fulham, while Dejan Lovren and Victor Wanyama played for Southampton in their 1-0 victory at West Brom. Italy international Dani Osvaldo has now been added to the mix after Saints broke their club transfer record again.
Southampton manager Mauricio Pochettino believes the club's policy of promoting players from the youth system is just as vital as the heavy investment in the squad.
The Argentinian has added Dejan Lovren, Victor Wanyama and Dani Osvaldo to his squad in recent months, running up a total transfer outlay of around B£36million.
But despite breaking the club's transfer record on two occasions this summer, after last year also splashing out on Gaston Ramirez and Jay Rodriguez, Saints fielded four products of their youth academy in Saturday's 1-0 win at West Brom.
Calum Chambers, Luke Shaw, James Ward-Prowse and Adam Lallana all started, as did Morgan Schneiderlin, who joined the south coast club as an 18-year-old.
Pochettino is keen to keep blooding such youngsters from the same academy that has produced the likes of Gareth Bale, Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in recent times.
"I'm very happy with all the players who have come through the academy, we are very pleased about what we are doing in that sense," he said ahead of Saturday's game at home to Sunderland.
"It speaks volumes of the good job that [chairman] Nicola Cortese has been doing in terms of promoting the academy going up.
"I think you need a good mix between youth players and older, more experienced players. If you do have that equilibrium then it is going to bring a good energy to the club.
"It is tough because we have 22 to 23 players who are looking at getting in to the side."
However, while he is happy to utilise his fledglings, Pochettino is also aware that he has to nurture their talents in the coming years.
"We have to be careful with young players," he added.
Sunderland also have more options but, having watched the highlights on Match of the Day via the BBC iPlayer (what a welcome development), Di Canio could be tempted to stick with the team that started against the Cottagers.
The Sunderland boss may also identify strongly with Saints new boy Osvaldo, who is certainly an interesting character.
The striker played under Pochettino at Espanyol but was excluded from the Italy squad for the Confederations Cup in the summer for disciplinary reasons. He admits that he is "no angel" but is generally a "nice person." Remind you of anyone?
With the ever-reliable Rickie Lambert on a career high following his goalscoring debut for England and more young players emerging from their academy, Southampton appear to be a team heading in the right direction.
Sunderland's away form is patchy but they have won on their last two visits to St Mary's. To try and predict the outcome of this encounter is difficult but it should be very interesting indeed.
