Reported Southampton target Rick Karsdorp has decided to stay at Roma after being won over by the club’s new American owners, according to Voetbal International.
With Cedric Soares gone and Yan Valery taking a sledgehammer to his once burgeoning reputation during a series of error-strewn displays, the Saints went into the transfer window looking for two new right-backs.
At least the job is half-done.
Kyle Walker-Peters arrived on a permanent deal after an impressive loan spell from Tottenham Hotspur, although the likes of Matty Cash and Deyovaisio Zeefuik slipped through their fingers, joining Aston Villa and Hertha Berlin instead.
A month after Voetbal International linked Southampton with a move for the £15 million Karsdorp, reports from his native Holland suggest that the 25-year-old will not be going anywhere between now and October’s deadline.
VI claims that Karsdorp was due to leave the Stadio Olimpico after making just eight Serie A starts in three injury-hit years.
But, after holding clear-the-air talks with Roma’s new owner, the American billionaire Dan Friedkin, Karsdorp has decided to try to revive his career in the Italian capital rather than embark on a fresh start elsewhere.
That’s another right-back down for Southampton, then. And time is rapidly slipping away.
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