Southampton’s operation to sign Manuel Benson from Burnley has fallen apart, according to claims from the player’s home country.
Belgian journalist Sacha Tavolieri writes that the player ‘won’t go’ to the Saints this week, due to the most recent requests made by the Clarets.
It’s said that Burnley ‘suddenly’ wanted to let the player move on a loan with an option to buy, and then ended up proposing a purchase clause for £15m.
That was reportedly considered ‘outrageous’ by Southampton, who ‘left the negotiating table’ and chose to go for David Brooks instead.
The turnaround comes at quite a surprising time, because just yesterday, the same journalist had been claiming that the clubs were close to an agreement, with Benson wanting the move.
We shall now see whether there’s any chance Southampton will return to the table for more negotiations, at least in case Burnley choose to leave that buying option aside and just accept a loan until the end of the season.
That may not be a very likely scenario at this stage.
