Proving to be one of Claude Puel’s more trustworthy players to put the ball in the back of the net this season, Charlie Austin’s severe shoulder injury may have forced the Frenchman to reassess his January transfer window plans.
Likely to spend most of it fending off bigger Premier League teams with a stick regarding his centre-back pairing of José Fonte and Virgil Van Dijk, Southampton will now have to also deal with having to find a new striker, and they could prove a pain in Everton’s and Stoke City’s backside.
Both Ronald Koeman and Mark Hughes have expressed an interest in Napoli’s Manolo Gabbiadini over the past few months, with the Potters reported to have made a recent €18m bid for the Italian striker, and now Il Mattino reckon Claude Puel has joined the party.
West Ham are also mentioned in there, as we all know Slaven Bilic’s men are struggling in front of goal in recent times, encapsulated by their 1-0 win over ‘worst away record holders’ Burnley on Wednesday night.
Napoli, down their end, have made the executive decision to go for Genoa’s Leonardo Pavoletti instead of Simone Zaza to solve their striker issues, but for that to happen, Gabbiadini needs to go.
With the Premier League the likeliest destination for the Italy international, the €23m+ for his services look increasingly likely to be paid, but the big question is ‘who by’?
Stoke looked the comfortable favourites, but with Southampton now ready to swing their wallet around, things could change quickly.
