Southampton are actually “” in signing a £400k+ defender who has been likened to Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk, Sky Sports activities reporter Anthony Joseph has revealed.
Nonetheless overseeing main rebuild at St. Mary’s
The Saints got here from behind to defeat Nationwide League facet Eastleigh of their first pre-season pleasant, with Adam Armstrong and Cameron Archer getting on the scoresheet, however new supervisor Will Nonetheless has insisted he’s nonetheless very a lot within the means of a rebuild.
Nonetheless mentioned: “I feel there are quite a lot of issues to be taught. We’ll should work extremely onerous and we’re not going to stroll over any opposition, you possibly can see that it is a workforce in the course of an entire reconstruction.
“We’re restructuring the identification and elegance of play and after 10 to 11 days coaching we have seen quite a lot of optimistic issues in addition to issues we’ve to work on.”
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Southampton plot strategy for £10m maestro who could bounce at St. Mary’s transfer
The Saints have set their sights on a midfielder…
After all, Nonetheless’s most important ambition subsequent season can be to guide his facet to promotion from the Championship, however he could should bolster his backline if they’re to attain that aim, having shipped 86 objectives within the Premier League final time period.
Southampton have already made one new addition at centre-back, securing the signing of Joshua Quarshie from Hoffenheim, they usually have now joined the race for an additional, in response to an replace from Joseph on X.
The Sky Sports activities reporter claims the Saints are actually “” in signing Volendam centre-back Xavier Mbuyamba, and there are optimistic indicators {that a} deal may very well be doable, with the Dutch membership “eager” to cash-in on the defender this summer time.
Nonetheless, Watford are additionally within the centre-back, whereas Fabrizio Romano has revealed the likes of Gent and Rangers might additionally present competitors for his signature, and the switch skilled believes his price ticket can be across the €500k (£434k) mark.
“Dominant” Mbuyamba might excel at St. Mary’s
Earlier on in his profession, the Volendam defender was typically in comparison with Van Dijk, maybe given that he’s a “dominant” determine in defence, in response to scout Jacek Kulig, who additionally praised him for his tackling and heading capacity.
Nonetheless, after coming by the youth ranks at Barcelona, earlier than happening to signal for Chelsea, the Dutch defender’s profession most likely hasn’t panned out how he would’ve hoped, however there are indicators he’s now prepared to check himself correctly in England.
Throughout his time with Volendam, the Maastricht-born ace has established himself as a key participant, making 62 Eredivisie appearances throughout the previous two seasons, and showcasing his attacking menace by scoring ten objectives.
At 23-years-old, Mbuyamba nonetheless has loads of time to meet his potential, and for a price of round £434k he may very well be a discount signing for Southampton this summer time.
