Southampton are hoping to sell Wesley Hoedt for around £7 million and could use the forgotten man as a sweetener in the deal for Club Brugge striker Emmanuel Dennis, according to Voetbal Krant.
With only one new face at St Mary’s this summer – former Real Valladolid man Mohammed Salisu – time is running out if Ralph Hasenhuttl wants new additions before the window slams shut in early October.
The Saints have seen the likes of Weston McKennie, Matty Cash and Darwin Nunez slip through their grasp, while Deyovaisio Zeefuik very publicly rejected a move to the South Coast before putting pen to paper with Hertha Berlin instead.
But if Southampton can get a £60,000-a-week player off their books, all the while bringing in one of Europe’s most exciting young forwards, this would be the very definition of ‘killing two birds with one stone’.
Reports in Belgium claim that Southampton are hoping to use the £7 million-rated Hoedt in a player-plus-cash deal that would see Dennis move to England for a reduced fee.
In fact, the Saints are allegedly actively pushing Hoedt, who shone last season during a loan spell at Royal Antwerp, in Brugge’s direction.
With the Jupiler League champions demanding around £18 million for Dennis, the hope is that the Nigerian’s price tag can be reduced to around £10 million if Brugge are willing to accept Hoedt in exchange (Walfoot).
The 22-year-old speed machine shot to fame during a breakthrough 2019/20 campaign, firing his side to the title while scoring twice away at Real Madrid and once against Manchester United in Europe.
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