Ralph Hasenhuttl’s Southampton were linked with a move for Marc Guehi – but he won’t be coming to St Mary’s Stadium this season.
Ralph Hasenhuttl’s Southampton have been linked with a loan move for Chelsea’s Marc Guehi but the Saints have missed out as the Blues defender has officially sealed a switch to Championship side Swansea City.
A report in The Sun from just before Christmas claimed that Southampton were hoping to snap up the highly rated 19-year-old for the rest of the season, in order to help shore up their defence, which has shipped 38 goals in the Premier League this term.
Fellow Premier League side Norwich City were also linked with Guehi’s services, as were Championship outfits Bristol City and Nottingham Forest, but the player has now joined the team managed by his former head coach at England youth level, Steve Cooper.
Guehi, who has played twice for Chelsea and is described by their website as a “committed defender with a good attitude”, was part of the England Under-17 team that won the 2017 World Cup under Cooper, and follows another member of that side, Liverpool’s Rhian Brewster, by joining the Liberty Stadium outfit on loan.
Southampton will now have to look elsewhere for defensive reinforcements – Hasenhuttl’s charges remain linked with Real Valladolid centre-back Mohammed Salisu, the Saints believed to be among a number of clubs to have scouted the 20-year-old Ghanaian this season.
A Sky Sports News report from 2 January linked Salisu to Southampton, the player believed to have a £10.2million buyout clause, with the Saints also said to be keen on Genk’s Joakim Maehle, Tottenham Hotspur’s Kyle Walker-Peters and Red Bull Salzburg’s Marin Pongracic.
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