Described yesterday as being close to accepting Southampton’s offer for Wesley Hoedt, with the player already saying goodbye to his teammates, Lazio have decided to wait a little bit before giving the transfer the green light.
The reason behind this is the uncertainty that currently surrounds his compatriot and teammate Stefan De Vrij, both represented by the same agency.
While the Serie A side are very inclined to selling the 23-year-old to Mauricio Pellegrino, the fact that De Vrij still hasn’t signed a contract extension with his current deal expiring next summer is a problem.
The defender is demanding a €20m release clause in his contract to facilitate a potential exit after the upcoming season, which Lazio aren’t exactly sure about.
Il Messaggero on Friday explain that before saying yes to Southampton’s offer, the Italian club want to meet with SEG, the defenders’ agency, in order to ‘get the clearer picture’ about the whole thing.
As things stand, Lazio seem unwilling to see Hoedt leave for €17.5m to Southampton this year and have to let De Vrij go somewhere else on a free next summer when they could easily get around €30m for him if he signed a new contract.
It seems that, until this is resolved, Southampton are going to have to wait to get Virgil Van Dijk’s new partner, as the Saints have made it very clear the Liverpool and Chelsea target isn’t going anywhere in the coming weeks.
