Southampton have moved to the front of the queue in their pursuit for the Real Valladolid defender Mohammed Salisu, according to reports.
Sky Sports had previously revealed that the Saints were strongly linked with the Ghanian defender back in January. However, a move could not be engineered and he stayed in north-western Spain.
An agreement had been reached between the La Liga side and the Ligue 1 outfit Rennes for Salisu to make the move north to France, but a spanner has ended up in the works of that move.
According to AS, talks with the two clubs have broken down as the Ghana international’s agent, Juan Mata Snr, the father of Manchester United’s Juan Mata, would rather his client made the move to the Premier League and the Saints are now favourites to capture him.
Would you bring Mohamed Salisu to Southampton?
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The report adds that he has a release clause of £10.2m with two years left on his contract. With the likes of Jannik Vestergaard linked with a move to Leicester City, the 6ft 2′ talisman could be a replacement.
Salisu has been an important asset for Sergio’s side during the current campaign, having started 27 La Liga matches and scoring once and providing one assist. His defensive record is impressive for a young player and has averaged 1.4 tackles, 2.5 aerial battles won and a pass success rate of 80.5% during that time, as per Whoscored.
Even if Vestergaard did stay at St Mary’s, Salisu would certainly take his place and even give Jack Stephens a run for his money. At such a young age performing in a top league, manager Ralph Hasenhuttl will be even more popular at Southampton if he bought Salisu.
