Sampdoria may been keen on keeping Southampton defender Maya Yoshida once his loan spell expires this summer.
The Japanese centre back joined the Serie A side on loan in the January transfer window after finding his status at Southampton decreased under Ralph Hassenhüttl.
He ended up managing just one appearance for the club after arriving, with the Coronavirus outbreak and the subsequent suspension of football stopping him from making more.
However, he has ‘impressed’ the club by the way he has integrated himself into the club and specifically the efforts he has gone to to learn the language according to La Repubblica.
That has also impressed the club’s fanbase, who, after watching videos of him learning the language with comic actor Andrea Carlini, are now ‘clamouring’ for his loan deal to be turned into a permanent one.
The newspaper believes that his efforts and attitude ‘make it clear’ that he doesn’t want his stay at the club to be a short one and would also like to stay long-term.
Further evidence of this is the fact he has expressed disappointment at not being able to explore Genoa during the lockdown, and that his ‘entourage’ have made it clear he won’t be accepting offers from ‘Arab countries’.
All these hint he is keen to stay, although much will rest on Southampton and what their plans are moving forward.
It seems unlikely they’ll be resistant to a sale given he was barely playing before his departure and will be in the final year of his contract come the summer.
