Southampton are interested in Brest midfielder Ibrahima Diallo and ‘should quickly send’ an offer to the Breton club.
That’s according to L’Equipe, who say that the midfielder is being ‘followed in England’ once more after Leicester looked at him in January.
This time it is Southampton who are ready to make a move, though, with the newspaper stating that the 21-year-old is ‘attracting a lot of interest’ from the Saints.
It’s claimed they are ‘actively’ looking for a defensive midfielder and have made securing Diallo’s signature ‘a priority’.
They are expected to make a formal offer soon after scouting him, with it claimed he is valued around €15m.
The deal is presented very much as one that could happen, and quickly, with Southampton still on the hunt for a replacement for Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, who moved to Tottenham earlier this summer.
Several names have been linked over the last few weeks, and it now appears that Diallo is at the front of the queue, something seemingly backed up by scout Piet Buter.
He has confirmed that Southampton missed out on Ibrahim Sangaré from Toulouse and suggested they won’t push for Heereneveen’s Joey Veerman until January.
“He (Veerman) is, of course, a very good football player”, he told NH Nieuws.
“And it would be foolish not to follow a 21-year-old boy with those qualities; then we are asleep.
“He is a game player with great technique. He has very good insight into the game, a nice pass and takes all corners and free kicks. An interesting player.
“We thought we had one with Ibrahim Sangaré from Toulouse, but to our great surprise, he chose PSV.
“During this corona time, they will collect footage. There is so much nowadays. You can judge every step and staircase.
“But if I have to estimate it and put a bottle of wine on it, I will say ‘no’. That will not work this transfer period. Maybe in January or later.”
