With every day that goes by, Wesley Hoedt is edging closer to a return to Lazio, the club Southampton bought him from back in 2017.
The Dutchman has been out of his manager’s plans at St Mary’s over the past couple of seasons, and with no desire from Ralph Hasenhüttl’s end to use the centre-back in the near future, an exit plan is being worked on.
In need of a defender, Simone Inzaghi has agreed to the arrival of his former player, although Lazio are being careful about how the deal is done.
For example, they are against a loan with a direct obligation to buy, since they aren’t ready to commit funds on him just yet bar an initial fee for the temporary spell.
That’s been made clear by previous reports, and all parties are trying to find a solution, which could come in the shape of a loan with a view to buy that could be made obligatory if certain criteria are met, such as a new qualification to the Champions League.
La Lazio Siamo Noi are the ones with that information, claiming the Serie A side started negotiations with a fee of €500k up front and a view to buy at €4.5m while Southampton wanted a future fee of €8m.
They say that talks now are heading towards a potential compromise, with Lazio prepared to up their offer to €1m + the ability to buy him at €5.5m.
There is ‘hope’ a deal can be done, which is echoed by Corriere della Sera, who believe the agreement with Southampton is ‘close’, with a loan + view to buy also mentioned.
We’ll have to wait and see, but the general consensus is this is comfortably heading in the right direction.
