Southampton are one of the teams reportedly leading the race to sign Alexis Claude-Maurice, while West Ham United have apparently made an offer.
According to a report from Calciomercato, Southampton are one of the teams at the front of the queue in the race to sign Alexis Claude-Maurice this summer despite West Ham making an offer for the 21-year-old last month.
Claude-Maurice was outstanding in Ligue 2 last season, scoring 14 goals and contributing four assists, with the majority of those goals coming from the left-hand side of midfield.
Calciomercato reports that a number of clubs across Europe are now tracking the youngster. The Hammers reportedly bid £11 million for Claude-Maurice last month and offered Lorient a 25 percent sell-on clause.
However, Calciomercato reports that the Saints are now leading the Premier League charge for his signature, while Nice join Ralph Hasenhuttl’s men as the front-runners. Meanwhile, Torino are also interested.
Southampton’s reported interest is intriguing. Hasenhuttl has already added Moussa Djenepo to his ranks, and the Daily Echo hinted that further marquee deals are unlikely without players leaving St Mary’s first – and offloading those fringe players is not proving to be an easy task.
But Claude-Maurice looks to be exactly the kind of player who could be perfectly suited to the Saints. Under Mauricio Pochettino and Ronald Koeman, the club had a knack of uncovering gems who had shone in leagues with a much lower profile.
The signing of Djenepo suggests that they have returned to pursuing that strategy. And Claude-Maurice’s form last season hints that, if he did join Southampton this summer, he would have every chance of becoming Hasenhuttl’s latest revelation.
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