Southampton are edging ever closer to confirming their fifth incoming signing of the summer.
Indeed, Sky Sports News reported, late on Sunday night, that Tonda Eckert's men had agreed a season long loan deal with Divin Mubama, as the Manchester City youngster poises himself to swap the Etihad for the St. Mary's temporarily.
Southampton love shopping for City youngsters, having had the likes of Romeo Lavia on their books in the past. Of course, Shea Charles starting his journey in football, too, with the ten-time Premier League champions, as he now prepares to make a bumper £30m switch to Fulham.
Back to Mubama, though, and the deal looks effectively done, with the 21-year-old surely raring to go, after showing off glimpses of his red-hot goalscoring ability on loan at Stoke City last season.
Mubama will be desperate to impress
Some sections of the Saints support seem a little unsure about this loan foray, with Mubama only bagging five goals all of last campaign with the Potters.
Yet, there was some apprehension in the air when Cyle Larin first joined on loan, and he proved to be an instant hit.
The hope will be that Eckert can work his magic on another diamond in the rough in the London-born striker, with a stunning 86 career goals falling into his lap, playing both men's and youth football.
The major caveat there is only seven of those strikes have come about in the hustle and bustle of the senior game, but Eckert loves getting more out of youngsters, as seen in Cameron Bragg's tremendous progression last campaign.
Mubama could finally come into his own, therefore, on the South Coast, having previously featured for West Ham United, before moving to the Etihad.
The raw 21-year-old will be desperate to be a success, after injury derailed his hit-and-miss spell at the Potters, and he will want to be around the first team picture at St. Mary's, for sure, for the second round of the EFL Cup, when assessing who Southampton's opponents are.
He will be raring to go even more with this news
Southampton comfortably got the better of a resilient Colchester United side 2-0 in the first round of the early season competition, with the above-mentioned Larin having to bail his wasteful team out of trouble with an instinctive goal.
Ben Brereton Diaz was a passenger to most of the action, before the Canadian saviour entered the pitch, meaning Mubama would stand a great chance of a start in the next round.
He would love to be given the first team nod by Eckert, too, as it would mean he would face off against his ex-employers in West Ham, with St Mary's the setting for the tasty EFL Cup showdown, on the week commencing the 24th of August.
It will be strange for the young centre-forward to possibly line up against the Hammers, instead of donning their striking claret and blue, as he bagged a lethal 63 goals for the East London giants from 97 youth outings.
Unfortunately, he would only ever muster up one senior goal at West Ham, before Enzo Maresca and Co. swooped in, and it would be fitting for him to potentially get off the mark on the South Coast, by planting a dagger into his former team's heart.
Before this clash in late August, there's the small matter of the Championship kicking off, as well, with Mubama ready to be in and around any starting XI Eckert selects, after he is officially unveiled.
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