Speaking to The Athletic back in December, former Southampton owner Rupert Lowe admitted that the Saints came oh-so close to signing a young Didier Drogba and Florent Malouda, a few years before they combined in devastating style while firing Chelsea to the Premier League title.
A decade from now, will we be looking back at Southampton’s failure to complete a deal for Gianluca Scamacca through a similar prism of regret and wonder?
Il Mianista reported last summer, the South Coast club held talks with Sassuolo regarding a potential move to St Mary’s for the Italy U21 international.
At the time, Scamacca was coming off the back of an impressive 13-goal loan spell at Serie B outfit Ascoli.
One year on, a 6ft 5ins centre-forward labelled the ‘new Zlatan Ibrahimovic’ by some appears to be on his way towards something, with all due respect to Southampton, rather bigger.
According to Gazzetta dello Sport, Scamacca could be playing alongside his ‘icon’ at AC Milan next season. Juventus have also held talks, impressed by the way the Rome-born 22-year-old has adapted to life in Italy’s top flight.
But, when asked about the future of his coveted centre-forward, Sassuolo CEO Giovanni Carnevali warned that an agreement would not come cheap.
In the space of just three months, Scamacca’s price-tag has risen by £15 million.
“In January, we said no to 25 million for Scamacca. Now, he costs at least 40 million,” Carnevali told Gazzetta.
For Southampton, is this rapidly becoming another classic case of ‘one that got away’? Drogba 2.0?
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