The Saints are close to offloading a forgotten defender following a loan spell away from St Mary’s.
Southampton have made significant changes during the transfer window, prioritising both the short and long term with certain signings.
Taylor Harwood-Bellis and Flynn Downes have returned following a brilliant loan spell at St Mary’s last season, where they helped Southampton towards an instant return to the Premier League.
Ronnie Edwards has also been brought in at defence, with the youngster getting key minutes during pre-season and impressing for Russell Martin’s side.
With the defensive signings of Harwood-Bellis and Edwards, there would be no surprises if Southampton look to offload a few castaways amid the current financial uncertainty and inability to make lucrative bids.
With this in mind, Southampton have struck gold as they edge closer to selling a defender for a sizeable fee, despite him unlikely ever being utilised as part of Martin’s plans.
Initially, both Stuttgart and Hoffenheim were interested in the permanent signing of Armel Bella-Kotchap, however the latter have moved forward with their approach and are reportedly ‘still working on a permanent deal’, per Florian Plettenberg on X.
Progress has been made in terms of contract talks, with ‘verbal agreement about a long-term’ deal being ‘close’, which have been helped by ‘personal terms no longer [being] an issue’.
Southampton are expected to get a total of ‘€15-17m’ (£13-14m) for the defender, who was not part of Martin’s plans last season after he was loaned out to PSV Eindhoven.
Southampton must make bold decisions on players not part of Russell Martin’s plans
The Saints look to be getting a good deal in selling Bella-Kotchap prior to the new season, with the defender unlikely being part of Martin’s plans for the forthcoming campaign.
Although he has shown decent ability during his loan stint in the Netherlands, Southampton must almost be proactive in moving on players who can’t guarantee that they can live up to the level of the Premier League, especially if they weren’t involved last season.
Southampton’s current financial situation suggests that sales like this must be made in order to make signings, and there could easily be three or four players that follow Bella-Kotchap out of the doors at St Mary’s this summer, something that will be crucial if the Saints are going to look at bringing in extra players.
Despite promotion, a rebuild is almost needed in the latter stages of August and Southampton will only be fully ready if they move on the players that are surplus to requirements in exchange for Premier League quality.
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