Southampton reportedly lodge bid for Lazio’s Wesley Hoedt
By Chris Hughes
With Virgil van Dijk seemingly ousted at Southampton, the club have been working hard to bring in a replacement.
Southampton have been linked with Wesley Hoedt more than once over the past few weeks, and it seems like their interest may have become formal today.
According to sources in Italy, Lazio has received a bid of 17 million euros for the defender, which equates to around £15 million in the current market.
Hoedt has reportedly been identified as a potential replacement for Virgil van Dijk, as even if the want-away defender stays he’s unlikely to feature for at least the coming months.
Maya Yoshida and Jack Stephens were solid in Southampton’s goalless draw with Swansea, but with Jan Bednarek as the only other first-team option it’s easy to see why the Saints are scouting another centre-half.
It’s believed that the appeal of playing in the Premier League would entice Hoedt to leave the Italian giants, having already been left out of Lazio’s Italian Supercoppa squad this past weekend.
Saints fans shouldn’t read too much into that however, with Hoedt yet to be a fully-fledged first-team regular with his side.
However Hoedt would be a cheaper option than the Saints’ other reported target Kevin Wimmer, who is valued at around £20 million. Although the latter does boast Premier League experience and is slightly older than Hoedt, making his inflated fee seem the more valuable deal.
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However with Hoedt the Saints could land a defender who has made nearly 50 appearances for Lazio already in two seasons, showing his potential as an up-and-coming centre-back.
What remains certain is that Southampton’s transfer business for this window is far from complete, with the club likely to make at least two more signing before the end of the month.