Southampton have lined up a late bid for Utrecht striker Sebastien Haller, one of several competing offers from Premier League and Championship clubs.
Championship side Newcastle United, as well as fellow Premiership sides Everton, Tottenham Hotspur, Crystal Palace and Swansea City, are also understood to have expressed interest in the 22 year old Frenchman, currently of Eredivisie side FC Utrecht.
No actual bids have yet been announced, though Utrecht have reportedly already rejected a £6m bid for the striker from an unknown source. It is believed that the Dutch club wish to gain a higher sum from the level of interest in their man, who was also reportedly given a look over by Ligue 1 side AS Monaco.
While Monaco have made no apparent moves for the Frenchman, Southampton have emerged as a late contender to favoured destination Newcastle. While Rafa Benitez is reportedly keen to sign the promising youngster as he attempts to guide the Mags back to the Premier League, Haller is understood to be reluctant to take a year in the Championship.
That reluctance, coupled with Southampton’s recent deep ties to the Dutch market and Claude Puel’s penchant for developing young French talent, make a late South Coast move a definite possibility as the transfer season winds to an end.
How much Haller knows of Puel’s record is uncertain. Still, with the likes of Alexandre Lacazette, Thierry Henry and Eden Hazard crediting Southampton’s manager with aiding their development, it seems St. Mary’s could be an attractive destination for a youngster looking to take his game to the next level.
If the buzz around the young Frenchman has gotten to him, his play on the pitch certainly hasn’t shown it. Through three games, playing the full 90 each outing, Haller has put up two goals.
As we covered earlier, Haller would make a great fit to Southampton’s attacking third, which has been found wanting through two games in the 4-4-2 diamond formation. With a Transfermarkt quoted value of €7.5m (£6.5m), and considering the length of his contract and the late stage of the window, Southampton can probably expect to pay around double that price.
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While a theoretical figure of €15m (£12.9m) would probably represent a new transfer record for the South Coast club, in the hyperinflated transfer market of this summer it’s hardly a bad deal. For fans looking for their marquee signing, a young transfer-record-breaking French striker to become Claude Puel’s latest youth success story seems to fit the bill nicely.