Middlesbrough’s Ben Gibson and Pontus Jansson of Leeds United are two of the players that Southampton have on their radar.
Van Dijk has endured a disappointing season so far. But The Sun on Sunday suggests that the Dutchman departing St Mary’s next month is likely – and it appears that the Saints are already considering some potential replacement options.
The Sun on Sunday (print edition; 24th December 2017; page 61) reports that the south coast side are interested in Gibson and Jansson, who are both impressing in the Championship.
Jansson looks to be back to his best for Leeds after an underwhelming start to the campaign for the Swede, and his performances have helped put Thomas Christiansen’s men into the play-off places at Christmas.
Meanwhile, Boro find themselves not far off the top six, but go into the New Year with plenty of uncertainty surrounding the Riverside Stadium after they sacked Garry Monk despite the side coming from behind to beat Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday.
It does not look like it is going to be easy for Southampton if they do decide to make a move for either player. Though Middlesbrough are outside the play-off places, the Northern Echo recently reported that they have no plans to sell Ben Gibson and will reject any bids that come in for the centre-back.
Meanwhile, Leeds would surely be making a massive mistake if they did not take a similar stance with Jansson. The former Torino man is such a popular member of the squad amongst the fans that him moving on would surely derail any promotion hopes that the Whites had.
But with The Times recently suggesting that the Saints would be looking for £70 million before they sold van Dijk, it certainly appears that they may well have the funds to make significant bids for either player if they do decide to follow up on their reported interest.
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