Premier League outfit Southampton are set to complete the signing of Bundesliga defender Armel Bella-Kotchap on a four-year deal from VFL Bochum, according to Sky Germany.
If the arrival of Mateusz Lis proved to be something of a drawn-out process – the Polish shot-stopper finally unveiled as a Saints player after weeks of speculation – then things have worked out rather differently for Bella-Kotchap.
Reports linking the highly-rated 20-year-old with a move to St Mary’s have come out of nowhere. A bolt from the proverbial blue.
According to Sky Deutcshland, Bella-Kotchap has already signed on the dotted line, agreeing a deal that will keep him on the South Coast until the summer of 2026. Haste and speed in equal mesure.
Southampton to sign Armel Bella-Kotchap
The Paris-born Germany U21 international played 22 games during Bochum’s first season back in the top-flight during 2021/22. Bella-Kotchap was a key cog in Thomas Reis’ coupon-busting side, Bochum finishing an impressive 13th while claiming famous wins over the likes of Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich.
TalkSPORT back up these claims, adding that Bella-Kotchap could cost a fee in the region of £9 million. He will become their third signing of the summer, but the first outfield player. Lis has already been joined at St Mary’s by Manchester City and Ireland wonderkid Gavin Bazunu.
Bella-Kotchap was recently linked with the likes of Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur. Southampton, however, can offer the youngster the kind of regular, first-team football that would have been difficult to obtain elsewhere in the Premier League (BILD).
“The lad’s a special case,” says Bochum goalkeeper Manuel Riemann. “He’s really good. Fast, tall and two-footed. He can still be a bit reckless in training though!”
Ralph Hasenhuttl will be Southampton hoping to iron out those kinks next term. And Bella-Kotchap could do a lot worse than to follow in the footsteps of his idol in red-and-white stripes.
“I try to learn from different role models,” explains Bella-Kotchap, speaking in glowing terms about one Virgol van Dijk.,
“He has a pretty no-nonsense game. Hard but fair.”
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