Southampton have been inflicted with a setback as the target Mohamed Simakan has revealed his short-term future.
The 20-year-old has previously been linked with a move to St Mary’s along with Everton (as per RMC Sport), with Tottenham also monitoring the progress of the young centre-back.
A €15m (£13m) was mentioned in the report, which is a figure that is easily affordable for all three clubs.
However, proceedings might have taken a step back, with Simakan becoming vocal about his future intentions.
Speaking to the French broadcaster Telefoot, the Simakan believes that the best place for him at this moment is with his club Strasbourg for the foreseeable future
Should Southampton continue to pursue Mohamed Simakan?
Yes
No
“Today, I couldn’t talk about it anymore because I haven’t heard anything, seen nothing, so these are a bit of rumour”, he said.
“For now, I prefer to focus on Strasbourg because today I am here and I find that everything is fine here and we will have to continue like this. The priority is to stay in Strasbourg.”
The young defender was in fine form before the Ligue 1 campaign was brought to a halt, having made 17 starts domestically for Les Coureurs.
As well as this, he managed to accumulate an average of 2.8 tackles, 1.6 tackles and a pass success rate of 76.9%, as per Whoscored.
Simakan also possesses the versatility that could benefit Southampton, with the ability to play in the middle of a back four and also at right-back, making an appearance as a right-sided midfielder.i
It is frustrating for all of us to see another player slip through our grasp. Patience could be required with this one. His comments did not sound like a player that wanted to remain at his club long-term.
