Southampton are no closer to finding Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s replacement after Benfica rejected an offer for Portugal U21 international Florentino Luis, according to A Bola.
Sunday’s 5-2 thumping at the hands at Tottenham certainly stung – and the fact their former captain was making things tick at St Mary’s only added insult to injury.
Try as they might, the Saints have found it impossible to replace Denmark international Hojbjerg, one month after he swapped the South Coast for Spurs.
Weston McKennie snubbed Southampton for the lure of Juventus, while Dejan Ljubicic opted to stay at Rapid Vienna after being handed the captain’s armband.
A potential £5 million deal for Sporting Lisbon dynamo Idrissa Doumbia, meanwhile, was ruined by work permit problems (Sabah).
And with a dismal start to the new season seeing the positivity surrounding Ralph Hasenhuttl’s tenure replaced by nagging fears things could unravel, the last thing Southampton needed was to run into Benfica’s brick wall.
A Bola claims the Saints have had an offer “refused” by the Portuguese giants – who value Florentino in excess of £25 million.
That would see the 21-year-old become Southampton’s record signing.
Then again, finding a replacement for Hojbjerg is priceless, especially when you consider Southampton’s midfield appeared to have all the consistency of wet tissue against Tottenham.
Florentino is a brilliant ball winner who has been compared by one former Benfica youth coach to Real Madrid’s Casemiro (Bernabau Digital).
The report adds he would prefer to leave Benfica having been left on the bench since legendary coach Jorge Jesus returned to the Estadio da Luz.
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