Southampton are looking to make a swoop for West Ham United target, Marlon Santos with a £11m bid. The Hammers have already put together a £13m offer but Swansea City’s Alfie Mawson is still at the top of their summer shortlist. Mark Hughes, who miraculously saw the Saints through a relegation escape, would ideally like to make some improvements to his squad ahead of the 2018/19 season.
The South Coast outfit should consider themselves lucky for still holding onto their Premier League lives. If it were not for Manuel Gabbiadini’s goal against Swansea in the 37th game week, they might just be in the EFL Championship for the upcoming season.
Southampton sold off Dusan Tadic to Ajax and reinvested in Mohamed Elyounoussi and Stuart Armstrong. Now the defence needs to be addressed as the club looks to find a capable figure to replace Virgil van Dijk. Ever since the Dutchman quit the St. Mary’s for Liverpool in January, the Saints have been significantly more vulnerable at the back which, in turn, accentuated their problems related to relegation.
Santos plies his trade for Barcelona and is coming off a season out on loan with Ligue 1 side, Nice. He picked up some crucial first-team experience with the French outfit, having appeared in 27 games and helping the team to a 8th placed finish in the French top-flight.
He is still under contract with Barcelona under the summer of 2020 but is unlikely to feature much for the club’s senior team. Ernesto Valverde will almost definitely be relying on Gerard Pique, Samuel Umtiti, Thomas Vermaelen and Yerry Mina in the near future.
The La Liga giants signed Santos on loan from Fluminense in June 2016. He made his debut for the side in the UEFA Champions League fixture against Celtic and also featured in the club’s B side.
After impressing on his first season at the Camp Nou, the Brazilian was signed permanently last summer on a four-year contract. He has 27 appearances registered to his name for the Barcelona B team and also 12 caps for the Brazil U20 side.
The Brazilian defender seems as ready as ever to play regular first-team football in any one of the European top-flight clubs. Santos’ prospects did not pan out for Barcelona but he could be a valuable addition to the Southampton ranks.
At 22, he still has his best years in front of him to develop into a star in the Premier League. With top professionals like Maya Yoshida and Wesley Hoedt in the Saints side, he will not be short of mentors to learn from.
