Late on Wednesday night, a couple of outlets in France published, around the same time, news that Saint-Etienne were considering making a move for Southampton’s Mario Lemina.
The 25-year-old has made it clear he sees his future somewhere other than St Mary’s next season, and while big names such as Manchester United have been linked, there’s yet to be much movement.
In an interview with France Football, he didn’t dismiss the possibility of returning to French football, and the Ligue 1 side could give him that opportunity.
Goal France were the first to bring the news, but they don’t provide that much detail other than the fact Saint-Etienne are ‘thinking’ about it, and the player is ‘well placed’ on their list.
However, En Vert et Contre Tous, a fan website who get the odd exclusive, claim the French side have already reached an agreement with Lemina and his agent after having worked on this for ‘the past few days’.
The issue in all this is Southampton’s asking price of €15m, which led Saint-Etienne to try and get the player on loan instead.
This appears some way off being done, but it’s one worth keeping an eye on.
