Andrea Ranocchia enjoyed a semi-succesful spell at Hull City last season and could return to England with Southampton.
With Virgil van Dijk going on strike and submitting a transfer request to force through an exit from Southampton this summer, Serie A giants Inter Milan are watching the saga unfold with a vested interest.
After all, despite the impressive emergence of young Jack Stephens and Maya Yoshida’s increasingly solid form in the Dutchman’s absence, it’s clear that The Saints will need to find a replacement for the talismanic Dutch defender.
The 21-time Italian international has endured a dramatic fall from grace at the San Siro, a series of high-profile mistakes meaning he fell out of favour for both club and country, even losing the Inter captaincy to Argentine goal machine Mauro Icardi.
However, Ranocchia revived his once shining reputation somewhat with a decent loan spell at Hull City in the second half of last season, despite making a catastrophic error in the 4-0 defeat to Crystal Palace which confirmed their relegation form the Premier League.
The report claims that Inter are looking to sell Ranocchia this summer and will offer the 29-year-old to Southampton in an attempt to get him off the club’s books. As a result, it’s likely that they will let him go for a rather affordable fee.
However, if Van Dijk does indeed get his way before the end of the transfer window, Southampton will have a huge wad of cash burning a hole in their pocket.
According to ESPN, Chelsea will offer £50 million for the former Celtic stopper after their defence was left ruthlessly exposed in a shock 3-2 home defeat to Burnley on Saturday. Therefore, Southampton can surely afford to aim higher than Ranocchia.
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