Romain Perraud should be a Southampton player by the end of the week and was nowhere to be seen as Ligue 1 outfit Brest began pre-season training on Tuesday, as reported by La Telegramme.
Over the last 48 hours or so, the Saints appear to have missed out on not one but two left-back targets to a direct Premier League rival.
Junior Firpo is swapping the Barcelona bench for Marcelo Bielsa’s murderball at Leeds United, while Arsenal have agreed a five-year deal for Benfica’s Portugal U21 international Nuno Tavares.
But all is not lost – quite the opposite in fact.
While Firpo and Tavares are not heading to St Mary’s, it looks for all the world that Perraud will be.
Will Romain Perraud be a Southampton player this week?
Southampton are continuing negotiations over a deal that would see the swashbuckling Perraud arrive on the South Coast for a fee in the region of £12 million, according to the Mail.
La Telegramme back up those claims, saying that a man who narrowly missed out on a move to Celtic back in 2019 will be heading across the Channel later this week, putting pen to paper with the Saints upon his arrival.
Perraud, a readymade replacement for the out-of-contract Ryan Bertrand, was conspicuous by his absence as Brest kicked off their preparations for the new season on Tuesday.
A self-professed ‘hyperactive’ player – one who should have no problems adapting to Ralph Hasenhuttl’s high-octane style – Perraud produced an impressive three goals and seven assists in Ligue 1 last season.
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