Southampton defender Wesley Hoedt is finally set to leave St Mary’s on a permanent basis with Voetbal24 reporting that he is on the verge of a £6 million move to an unnamed Belgian club.
One down, a few more to go for the Saints.
Heading into the summer transfer window, Ralph Hasenhuttl and co have made it his mission to find buyers for a whole host of high-earning misfits.
The futures of Guido Carrillo and Mario Lemina remain up in the air after loan spells at Leganes and Galatasaray respectively, though at least Hoedt appears to have one foot out of the door.
The Dutch international has not made a single Premier League appearance for the South Coast club since a 3-2 defeat to Fulham in November 2018.
But, according to reports on the continent, Hoedt’s miserable spell as a Southampton player is coming to an end with a Jupiler League giant set to pay £6 million for his signature.
Such a fee means Southampton will make a £9 million loss on a player who was very highly-rated when he moved to England from Serie A powerhouses Lazio three years ago.
Hoedt spent the 2019/20 season on loan at Royal Antwerp and, unsurprisingly given that he has shone before at a much higher level, immediately established himself as arguably the most commanding centre-half in Belgian football.
It seems unlikely, however, that Antwerp could afford that £6 million price-tag with Hoedt perhaps on his way to a Brugge, an Anderlecht or a Genk instead.
“You have written often enough that the purchase option (in his Antwerp loan deal) is £7 million and at the moment it is unrealistic that a Belgian club pays that,” Hoedt told Het Niuewsblad recently. “Even without (the ongoing global health crisis), I think it was too much.
“It means that my time at Antwerp is over.”
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