European club turns down €2.5m gem Southampton are crying out for

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Southampton's first team lineup has been crying out for a right-sided fullback and their prayers can be fulfilled by taking advantage of a Basel loanee who was allowed to depart to his current employers.

Well, kit launches being an emotional and fond moment is not a big deal nowadays, but with Southampton, they can be the catalysts to set the deals in motion. Before yesterday, the Saints had only one new face at the club but now there is a healthy chance of adding two more within the first half of July.

The first of those two is touted to be Damion Downs, who can arrive at St. Mary's with hopefully an international medal round his neck. The other one, is also a future prospect for his national team but swooping him may have the fans thanking the board more than any future summer decision.

Yes, it's time for a fullback surprise and Expressen's report suggests that Basel's on-loan gem Joe Mendes is the chosen candidate in Southampton's eyes.

Mendes can sideline Max Johnston's preference concerns

In all honesty, there were three more priorities before Mendes but two of them, notably Kaine Kesler-Hayden and James Penrice have sought different playing sceneries elsewhere. The remaining one is Max Johnston, who is good enough to start for any Championship unit he wants but his heart is set on bagging a Serie A move at the earliest.

As such, Mendes must be the decision-makers go-to pick and the cherry on the cake is his meagre transfer valuation. Going by a Football League report, they have indicated a €2.5m selling fee which roughly equates to the figure Southampton forked out for acquiring Joshua Quarshie.

Moreover, it's good to see the board tilting towards introducing more European pedigree in the lineup which every fan knows, leading them to a bunch of memorable Premier League runs. Is St. Mary's heading back to those cheerful atmospheres, that can be wished for and let's be optimistic about that.


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