Just over a week ago, we looked into the claims that Southampton had made a ‘monster bid’ for Standard Liège’s Moussa Djenepo.
The 20-year-old has been impressive for the Belgian side this season, scoring 11 goals and assisting six times in 39 appearances in all competitions, and it’s no surprise that a club like the Saints would be looking at him.
It all started when Le Soir stated €23.5m had been put on the table, a claim quashed by Het Belang Van Limburg, who explained ‘everyone’ at Standard Liège ‘denied’ receiving such an offer from Southampton.
With the Jupiler Pro League title race now over, as Genk lifted the trophy on Thursday night, Michel Preud’homme, the club’s manager, was a bit more open about the future of some of his players, including the Mali international.
On Djenepo, he said, relayed by DH: “When you see that a team like Southampton can make an offer of €22m for a player like him, it’s hard to say no. Has there been an offer? It’s close.
“There are noises, chats, contacts, but the offer in itself has yet to be confirmed”.
To us, that sounds very much like Ralph Hasenhüttl’s team are doing their best to sign the 20-year-old, even if they have yet to send that official email/fax/carrier pigeon explaining the money will soon follow.
One to certainly keep an eye on in the coming weeks.
