Southampton were interested in a move for FC Midtjylland youngster Franculino Djú last summer, but ended up losing out to the Danish side.
That’s according to Ekstra Bladet, who cover how FC Midtjylland secured the 20-year-old last year ahead of the likes of Southampton.
The newspaper explains that when FC Midtjylland secured the player’s signature last summer, it was against competition from Benfica, who were keen to keep hold of him, and Southampton.
The Saints were also keen on the ‘great attacking talent’ but were beaten by FC Midtjylland thanks to their executive assistant Ove Pedersen and his connections.
Further research made it clear that he could be signed quite easily and Pedersen used his connections to make this happen.
He made it clear to the player and his representatives that Franculino would be well placed at FC Midtjylland as they can offer him first team football and a faster progression than elsewhere.
A deal was done for him to move in 2023 and that proved to be smart at Southampton had also been working on the player in the background.
They had tried to close an agreement with the player but found FC Midtjylland were ‘a big step ahead’ of them.
That’s something they’ve come to regret as the player has managed 26 goals and 11 assists in 51 games for FC Midtjylland so far, justifying the effort to get him.
