Currently 12th place in the English Premier League table, Southampton are a club on an upswing. Spending most of the first half of the season in the relegation zone, the Saints have managed to turn their form around in recent weeks. Looking to continue this climb up the table, Southampton are expected to be active in the January transfer window.
Now, according to a new report from Nizaar Kinsella of GOAL, one of those new signings could be Sampdoria centre-back Omar Colley.
Southampton Target Sampdoria Defender Omar Colley
In Need of Reinforcements
One of the biggest needs for the current Southampton side is the centre-back position. Sporting just four senior centre-backs at the moment, Southampton are extremely thin at the position. Moreso, of those players, Maya Yoshida is out of contract at the end of the season. Joining Yoshida on the way out could be Jannik Vestergaard. The Danish international has recently been linked with a departure from the club.
Should these two moves take place, Southampton will be left with just Jack Stephens and Jan Bednarek at the position. Attempting to address this before it becomes an issue, Southampton are reportedly lining up a transfer for Sampdoria centre-back Omar Colley.
The 27-year-old Gambian has become a star player for the Italian side so far this season. Starting in all but three of Sampdoria’s matches this season, Colley is an extremely important player for La Samp’. However, because of this, Colley may not be an easy player for Southampton to sign.
Newcastle United and West Ham United are also linked with the 27-year-old centre-back. Also a likely to complicate matters will be Sampdoria’s injury issue at the centre-back position. Losing their other first-choice centre-back to a serious knee injury, Colley has become an extremely key player for Sampdoria.
However, Colley could be available this month for just £15-million. Such a decent price is likely to attract multiple suitors, another potentially complicating matter. That said, with the Saints current need at the position, it could be possible for Colley to prefer Southampton over other Premier League sides.
Joining the Saints setup, Colley would almost certainly slot into third place on the Southampton depth chart. Displacing both Jannik Vestergaard and Maya Yoshida, Colley would have an immediate presence within the Saints first team. Such an offer would likely be tough for the Gambian to turn down.
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