Southampton: Saints targeting €25m former Manchester United winger

Southampton are reportedly battling with fellow Premier League side Brighton and pushing for a transfer move for winger Adnan Januzaj.

According to a report from Belgian news outlet HLN (via Hampshire Live), both South Coast clubs are wanting to bring the former Manchester United man back to England and the Belgium international has a €25m price on his head.

Januzaj came through the later age groups of Manchester United’s academy setup and progressed well to make an impression at senior level too.

Despite initially exploding onto the scene, his influence eventually fell away and he was sold to Real Sociedad for around £7.6m after loan spells at Borussia Dortmund and Sunderland.

Since then though, it is fair to say that his form – in terms of goals and assists – has still been below par.

96 appearances have yielded 16 goals and 14 assists to date and he has played 201 minutes of first-team football for Sociedad in 2020/21, perhaps hinting at a future move away as he slips down the pecking order.

More from Saints Marching

• Grading the Southampton Transfer Window Part 2: Arrivals
• Grading the Southampton Transfer Window Part 1: Departures
• It’s time to talk about Gavin Bazunu
• Rain clouds on the horizon? Southampton beat Plymouth Argyle
• A lament for Southampton legend James Ward-Prowse

His time at Sociedad has been a successful one from the club’s point of view though – a 12th-placed finish in 2017/18 was followed by pushes up the table to 9th and 6th in the past two years respectively.

With nine games of the current La Liga campaign played, the Whites and Blues find themselves topping the table having recorded six wins, two draws and one loss.

There is no doubt that Januzaj is a talented player when he is on top form.

His tricky style of play from the wing caused many problems for defences in the Premier League and he could well reproduce that again when playing in the right team.

This style could well be just one thing that puts Saints and Ralph Hasenhuttl off signing him though as he is unlikely to fit into the energetic pressing system that is currently on show at St Mary’s.

The 25-year-old’s goal contribution record is not something that would warrant spending just over £22m on though and a fee closer to £10m could be considered less of a gamble.