The Saints ace left St Mary’s Stadium earlier this year for a loan spell with Inter Milan.
Southampton defender Cedric Soares is on the radar of French side AS Monaco, according to a report in Foot Mercato.
The Portugal international lost his first-team place in the second half of last season following the arrival of Ralph Hasenhuttl and the emergence of Yan Valery, and went out on loan to Inter Milan.
Now back at St Mary’s and involved in the Saints’ pre-season programme, Cedric’s future looks brighter than it may have done earlier this year, but he nonetheless appears to face a challenge in returning to first-team contention.
In an interview with BBC Radio Solent, Hasenhuttl was asked whether Cedric and Wesley Hoedt could have a future at Southampton, to which he replied: “I don’t want to say they have no chance to play, but for sure the challenge is a big one because of the players here who have been successful in the last months.”
Monaco, meanwhile, are reeling from a difficult few days in which reported moves for Andre Silva of AC Milan and Adama Soumaoro of Lille fell through at the last minute, and as such are focusing their efforts on other players in a bid to exorcise the demons of 2018-19 – a campaign in which they were nearly relegated.
According to Foot Mercato, Cedric – capped 33 times by Portugal according to Transfermarkt – is one of those players earmarked for consideration by the eight-time French champions, depending on whether one of Djibril Sidibe or Benjamin Henrichs leaves the club this summer.
Soares joined Southampton from Portuguese club Sporting Lisbon in 2015 in a reported £4.7million deal (BBC Sport) and made 119 appearances for the south coast club in his three-and-a-half years at St Mary’s, as written on the official Saints site.
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