Southampton: Saints and Everton in race for Hull City star attacker

Southampton are reportedly in a two-way battle to sign Hull City’s star attacker Jarrod Bowen this summer.

According to the Hull Daily Mail and Football League World, both sides are considering formal approaches for the 22-year-old after his superb 2018/19 campaign in the Championship.

Bowen was a crucial presence as Hull claimed a 13th-placed finish under former Saints boss Nigel Adkins.

Playing mostly from the right-wing, he netted 22 goals in 46 second-tier appearances and has quite rightly appeared on the radar of some top-flight clubs as a result.

Saints are looking to add to their group of attackers this summer and have already added £14m signing Moussa Djenepo to their ranks from Standard Liege.

Recent reports have also stated that the club are continuing their pursuit of Birmingham City striker Che Adams, who also had a prolific season in the Championship and finished level with Bowen on 22 goals.

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With Ralph Hasenhuttl potentially looking to deploy his preferred 4-2-2-2 system in the long-term from next season, centre-forwards and wingers/attacking-midfielders are vital.

Nathan Redmond – who enjoyed a superb second half of the campaign in 2018/19 – and Djenepo are likely to provide options for the left-flank, but the right will still remain a priority and need to be strengthened.

Bowen’s style sees him coming off of the right-wing and cutting inside to both create and score; potentially making him ideal for Saints’ setup from 2019/20.

What’s more is that he currently suits the transfer strategy that Hasenhuttl wants to work under.

He is said to be targeting young and hungry players who will get their first taste of Premier League football when joining Saints, and this was very much the type of player that he was successful with at RB Leipzig.

Despite the need for defensive signings too, links to defenders have not been frequent for Saints so far this summer.

Rumours have mentioned in the past couple of days that current first-choice left-back Ryan Bertrand may be subject of interest from Atletico Madrid and Inter Milan.