After lagging behind in the Juma Bah transfer race, Southampton find themselves missing out on a second central defender whom they appreciated internally.
Although official confirmations are yet to arrive, Southampton fans' Juma Bah day-dreaming phase has fizzled out within the month of June. Now, nothing can be done by talking about that missed opportunity at length but at least the Saints know that acting swiftly may yield them better results.
With that optimism boost, the shortlisting process was underway and there came an almost mirror match alternative that too, from the Championship itself. Coming to the player, that's Middlesbrough star Rav Van den Berg.
A while ago, they were weighing up a move for ex-Saints assistant Danny Rohl, thus, it felt that drawing them up for a sale shouldn't be tough. And the cherry on the cake was the fact that Southampton's transfer chiefs do rated him highly in their books.
As quoted by De Telegraaf (via EFL Analysis), the Saints representative said: "Van den Berg could definitely make it to the big Oranje, because he has the total package. He has a lot of pluses in my reports."
Saints must pause their struggling defender search
At this stage, one will feel it difficult to wonder what could possibly go wrong. But knowing that Southampton are carrying the blemish of a second-division drop, any top-flight offer rivalling their bids is almost guaranteed to emerge as the winner.
And the report added that the same misfortune held Southampton back with the Bundesliga allure triumphing their youth-project appeal.
Fair enough, the Saints swooped a future Bundesliga star in Joshua Quarshie, so, the German clubs are also willing to acquire one prodigy from under Southampton's noses.
Going by this recent defender rejections trend, focusing on forwards and midfielders might be the club's new transform norm over the coming days.