Southampton: Mario Lemina subject of interest from two European clubs

Southampton midfielder Mario Lemina could secure a move to Europe in the near future with the transfer window still open for clubs on the continent.

According to journalist Sam Wallace – via the Telegraph’s Live transfer blog on Thursday (10:03am) – the 25-year-old has attracted strong interest from both Roma and Sevilla recently as he tries to find a new club.

If a move is to materialise, the Gabon international has until the 2nd September to move away from St Mary’s.

Ralph Hasenhuttl has frozen him out of plans for the 2019/20 season and this led to him being linked with a host of English and European clubs.

Wolves, Everton, Manchester United and Arsenal were said to be possible destinations whilst the English transfer window was open, whilst Atalanta, Roma and Sevilla are said to be tracking him too.

Lemina has played some of his career in Italy already and that may be something that he considers when deciding which club to join.

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He arrived at Saints from Juventus for a fee of around £15m in the summer of 2017 and showed his ability on the ball in a number of the games that he played.

His best traits would probably be desirable for many teams around Europe, but Saints have also seen that his positional discipline is not always perfect.

In all, Lemina has made 52 appearances for Saints and scored two goals, but he has struggled to become a first-choice midfielder with the likes of Oriol Romeu, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and James Ward-Prowse to compete with.

Other fringe players at Saints could also be offloaded before the European transfer deadline.

Guido Carrillo and Mohamed Elyounoussi look unlikely to feature in the plans of Ralph Hasenhuttl this season and have been linked with moves away during the summer.

Others such as Wesley Hoedt and Cedric have returned to the club but look set to stay with no active suitors for their signatures.