Southampton are set to increase an initial offer for a player on Leeds United’s shortlist to a huge £12m, with interest from Russell Martin’s side said to have come as a ‘shock’.
Following their win over Leeds in the Championship play-off final, Southampton have been active in the window. Already, Martin’s Saints have signed eight players including Flynn Downes and Adam Lallana.
More than £50m has been spent on new signings as Southampton look to survive an immediate return to The Championship next season. Leeds meanwhile, have been much more reserved in the transfer window.
A £10m deal for Joe Rodon was only engineered due to Archie Gray’s £40m exit. A loan for Joe Rothwell who was at Southampton last season, £5m spent on Jayden Bogle and a small to bring Alex Cairns back.
Leeds and Southampton in transfer battle as Saints up bid
Over the weekend, reports said that Leeds were interested in luring Crystal Palace star Jesurun Rak-Sakyi to Elland Road on loan. A Championship loan looked likely for the England U20 star in the coming weeks.
Southampton however, tabled a shock £7m bid for Rak-Sakyi which took Palace by surprise. A fee though, deemed too small by Palace and now Alan Nixon reports on his Patreon that Southampton are back in.
He says that the Saints are now readying a bid of £12m to tempt Southampton into a possible sale, for a player who only managed eight appearances for Palace last season after impressing at Charlton on loan.
Rak-Sakyi has very important decision to make this summer
This is an incredibly important decision in Rak-Sakyi’s career. After a season in which he only played eight times, he needs to go somewhere where he is going to play regular football, is that Southampton?
Martin is clearly a fan but Rak-Sakyi, albeit “fantastic” according to Patrick Vieira, is unproven in the top flight. Can Southampton, who are likely to be embroiled in a relegation scrap, afford to carry a passenger?
Leeds will be playing attacking football to Rak-Sakyi’s strengths. Palace would keep one of their young stars in loaning him to Leeds, while The Whites benefit for a season – it could be a better deal for him.
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