Southampton are making concrete advances to bring Malian youngster Issa Tounkara to England.
That’s at least what Africa Foot are reporting. They cover the latest on efforts put in by Southampton to sign Tounkara.
He’s at Malian training centre, Académie des Étoiles du Mandé, and has managed to draw Southampton’s interest.
The Championship side have been working on this deal for the past few weeks.
On February 8th, Sport Witness covered claims about the Saints’ interest. The same source reported them making a formal offer to sign the 17-year-old.
Africa Foot picks up on that and provides details of the proposal for both Académie des Étoiles du Mandé and the defensive midfielder.
Southampton stepping up to sign Tounkara
According to the report, Tonda Eckert’s side recently made an offer worth over €1.2m to the Malian side. At the same, the English club also sent a four-year proposal to the young midfielder.
Southampton aim to finalise Tounkara’s arrival at St Mary’s quickly and have made further advances.
Africa Foot state the Mali U17 international has already arrived in England to carry out the transfer formalities. In fact, the midfielder has successfully completed his medical tests with the Championship side.
The outlet add Southampton should make his arrival at St Mary’s official next week.
Saints plan for young defensive midfielder
Although Southampton aim to make his signing official next week, he won’t be able to official join them until the summer.
Due to Brexit, Tounkara will only be able to arrive in the UK once he turns 18 years of age this June.
The Saints initial plan for him to be part of their youth system and then promote him to the first team. This is likely for the Malian to adapt and adjust to new surroundings and continue his development.
Who is Tounkara?
His development at Académie des Étoiles du Mandé helped him make it to Mali’s squad for U17 African Cup of Nations in 2025. The Southampton target captained his country, who lost the final to Morocco on penalties.
However, Tounkara failed to represent his country at the U17 World Cup in November. This did come as a surprise in Mali, while some claims from his country had reported an injury as the reason for him not being there.
His preferred role is as a defensive midfielder while can also be utilised in the middle of the pitch.
