Southampton are yet to make a firm offer to sign Josip Brekalo from Wolfsburg, despite reports of their interest.
That’s according to BILD, who say ‘there is nothing to it at the moment’ despite claims from Italy that they were keen on Croatian.
We covered a report yesterday that stated Southampton were ‘in the lead’ for Brekalo’s signature and had made their interest clear to Wolfsburg.
BILD pick up on that today and scale things back somewhat, insisting Southampton are yet to do anything.
They explain that Torino haven’t taken up a purchase clause in Brekalo’s loan deal, and at the moment, it seems unlikely that the cash strapped club will do so, given it’s set at €13m.
A permanent switch to Italy is ‘extremely doubtful’, but there could be a scenario in which they do pay the clause in order ‘sell him directly for a profit’.
This is where Southampton would come into the mix, and it has been made clear they ‘would be interested’ in such an arrangement. BILD, though, insist ‘there is nothing to it at the moment’.
That’s left a ‘bitter’ taste at Wolfsburg, who are set to miss out on €13m but also be forced to pay Brekalo’s €3m a year salary if a transfer cannot be arranged.
They don’t want the Croatian, but if his advisors can’t find any suitors, then he will have to return to Lower Saxony, which is not an ideal scenario for anyone.
The hope is that someone like Southampton will come in and offer a deal or that Torino will take up their clause, but at the minute, neither look likely.
