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Southampton: Saints agree £18m deal for defender Vestergaard

By Marc Walker

LEICESTER, ENGLAND - AUGUST 04: Shinji Okazaki of Leicester in action with Jannik Vestergaard of Borussia Moenchengladbach during the preseason friendly match between Leicester City and Borussia Moenchengladbach at The King Power Stadium on August 4, 2017 in Leicester, United Kingdom. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)
LEICESTER, ENGLAND - AUGUST 04: Shinji Okazaki of Leicester in action with Jannik Vestergaard of Borussia Moenchengladbach during the preseason friendly match between Leicester City and Borussia Moenchengladbach at The King Power Stadium on August 4, 2017 in Leicester, United Kingdom. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images) /
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Southampton have agreed an £18m deal with Borussia Mochengladbach for Danish defender Jannik Vestergaard, with the player due for a medical today.

According to both skysports.com and ESPN, Southampton have won the race to sign the 25-year-old and reportedly beaten fellow Premier League clubs West Ham and Everton to his signature.

The pursuit of the 6ft 5in Centre-Back had seen the Saints identify Vestergaard as the player they needed to bolster their defence ahead of the 2018/19 season.

He would certainly add a presence at the back and in the opposition area for set-pieces whilst providing reassurance for a leaky back-line that struggled at times last year.

The team’s first pre-season game against Schalke last week saw Mark Hughes deploy the 5-3-2 system that he used for many of the final game of 2017/18 that eventually saw Saints to safety.

Next: Saints out to avoid 17th place curse next season

GLASGOW, SCOTLAND – OCTOBER 18: Jannik Vestergaard the VfL Borussia Moenchengladbach training session at Celtic Park on October 18, 2016 in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Mark Runnacles/Getty Images)
GLASGOW, SCOTLAND – OCTOBER 18: Jannik Vestergaard the VfL Borussia Moenchengladbach training session at Celtic Park on October 18, 2016 in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Mark Runnacles/Getty Images) /

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Vestergaard will add options and experience to central defensive areas already including Maya Yoshida, Jack Stephens, Wesley Hoedt and Jan Bednarek.

He has 16 caps for Denmark so far and travelled with his country to the World Cup in Russia this summer, although he didn’t get on the pitch for any of their four game at the tournament.

His 7-year senior career has been spent entirely in Germany. Hoffenheim were his first club before a £4m transfer to Werder Bremen in January 2015.

Just 18 months later however, he was on the move again and completed an £11m move to current club Borussia Mochengladbach.

Last season saw him make 34 appearances in league and cup for Dieter Hecking’s side and add to 150 top-flight games he already had under his belt.

The completion of Vestergaard’s move to England could see him involved in Saints’ game against Derby County on July 21st and potentially three further pre-season games.

A home game against Burnley on Sunday 12th August sees Mark Hughes’ side begin their Premier League season looking to get themselves further away from the bottom of the table than 2017/18.

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