Southampton: Saints “must act quickly” to snap up transfer target

Southampton’s interest in Real Valladolid defender Mohammed Salisu has seen them join many clubs in the pursuit for his signature.

A report from skysports.com back in January confirmed that Saints were looking at the young Ghanaian, but now it appears that they may have to act fast to bring him to the South Coast of England.

Via Sports Witness, El Desmarque reports that unless other clubs step up their interest in Salisu, he is likely to join French Ligue 1 club Rennes and play Champions League football next season.

The same report states that Saints have been strong in their pursuit of the 21-year-old in comparison to fellow Premier League outfits Watford and Manchester United. Wolves were said to be among the favourites to sign him until Rennes became frontrunners.

In all, it looks like Saints may need to move on to other defensive targets.

Confirmation of the return of Premier League football on June 17th came today and it looks like Saints will be heading for a midtable finish if things remain similar to how they are now.

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Along with making a £34m loss in the 2018/19 season, a midtable finish this time around with a bloated squad (including loanees) could mean financial catch-up again – especially with the negative impact of the Coronavirus.

Real Valladolid will know that they have a player of huge potential in Salisu and will charge the amount that they feel is fair for another club to sign him.

Because of the current situation, it is hard to see Saints being able to sign players for fees anywhere near £20m this summer. It is still unknown how the transfer window will work too with the 2019/20 campaign in England expected to run into early August.

Sensible moves this year could involve swap deals with a smaller fee on top going to the club with the more valuable player in the transfer.

Saints have recently been linked with a swap that would see Celtic midfielder Olivier Ntcham come to St Mary’s and Fraser Forster go the other way, whilst a similar deal has been mentioned to switch Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Kyle Walker-Peters with Spurs.