Saints are said to have enquired about Brest's defensive midfielder Ibrahima Diallo as the solution to their defensive midfield issues.

Saints are said to be after Ibrahima Diallo as well as Florentino Luis, Olivier Ntcham, Joey Veerman and Chelsea's Ruben Loftus-Cheek and a raft of other players accoring to the media, but it is Diallo that is said to be at the forefront at least if you belive the French media.

L'Equipe reports that Southampton are exploring a move worth around €15million, with bonuses, which they claim could be enough to get a deal done.

Indeed, it has been reported in France that Brest are looking for potential replacements for Diallo in the event that he leaves before the deadline.

Diallo has been an important member of the Brest squad since he joined from Monaco who signed permanently from Monaco in the summer of 2019 after a year on loan.

L'Equipe also claim that Saints have made an initial enquiry for Diallo and that they are expected to return with a formal offer for the France U20 international.

Diallo turned 21 in March of this year, but is still relatively inexperienced, he has featured 5 times already this season for Brest and last season played 19 times in Ligue 1 for the French club.

But those 24 appearances are his only top flight games in France adding to the 23 he played in Brest's promotion season in the 2nd tier.

So will a £13 million outlay for the player turn out to be another case of trying to buy in potential that doesn't quite make the grade or will it be another great find ?

That is the big question, from the stats and the fact that he cost Brest less than £3 million, I would say if we bought him as one for the future at around £8 million he would be a good find, but once you start paying over £13 million you want just that little bit more experience.

Photo: Action Images

SaintPaulVW added 15:37 - Sep 30 24 games and his value has supposedly gone up fivefold? Are we that desperate?
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underweststand added 16:09 - Sep 30 Not desperate maybe, but when a Premier League club comes looking at a lower league talent ...then his price automatically quadruples, no matter who it is. If they put on a show, then they bring in the profit. We did it with Mane and Van Dijk . The real problem is when it's a Boufal, Lemina or Carrillo, and then there is little chance of recovering the investment of a large fee PLUS 4 years of high paying salary (ouch!) Too often the "talent" ends up being played out of his best position in another team that plays an alternative formation with different tactics to those that made him a success... Clearly this player was not near the top of Ralph's shopping list , so lets' hope that whoever we sign, he will develop into a "diamond " and not become a waste of space.

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sandywelsh added 16:58 - Sep 30 Now Ross Barkley has joined Aston Villa on a season-long loan from Chelsea surely now we should get Ruben Loftus-Cheek from Chelsea on loan!!! No transfer fee just have to pay his wages a win win situation.
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Knibbosaint added 17:50 - Sep 30 Terrible headline Nick, just terrible! Thought I was reading the Daily Star!!!
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saintmark1976 added 17:57 - Sep 30 It’s all getting rather boring now. “ Saints enquire about this player, Saints enquire about that player, Saints enquire about enter a name of your own choice player “. Whilst the rest of the Premiership clubs actually appear to sign players. Wouldn’t it be better all round if the club just said something along the lines of “ we haven’t got any money to spare so we are going to just have to “make do and mend”. Perhaps not what fans wish to hear but at least it would be honest.

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Boris1977 added 11:17 - Oct 1 I do not understand why saints operate their transfer business in this way i.e. last minute signings. While I understand they don't want to show their hand too soon surely pushing signings to the 11th hour risks the selling club saying take it or leave it. Also getting a player in in slower time means they are playing catch-up in terms of integrating into the team. Saints are a schizophrenic club - with the right management team in place we could achieve something worthwhile but the last few years have at times made the club looked mismanaged, purposeless, ownerless and at times bloody embarrassing on the corporate side. As the phrase goes the silence, allied to lack of activity, is deafening.

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sandywelsh added 10:16 - Oct 4 Saints are said to be signing Ibrahima Diallo is that this season or next?
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