Football Scotland claim Southampton have had a bid of £3million accepted by Lyon for striker Moussa Dembele – amid reports that Everton and Aston Villa have shown interest in the French star, who is out of contract in the summer.
Dembele, 26, is expected to leave Lyon either before the end of the window, or in the summer. Lyon are seemingly set to sell him this month. That could be largely down to form. Last term, he netted an impressive 22 goals in 36 games.
But this time around, he has just two goals in 16 games. The signing of Alexandre Lacazette has pushed Dembele down the pecking order. It has left Dembele to start just seven of 16 games. The ex-Celtic man is attracting English interest.
Dean Jones recently told Give Me Sport that Everton were showing interest. Unai Emery is also said to have held talks over a deal to bring Dembele to Aston Villa, according to 90Min. But now, Southampton are leading the race for him.
That is because the Saints have had a £3million bid accepted for Dembele. A club renowned for signing players from Celtic. Dembele scored 51 goals in 94 games for the Hoops. It is unclear whether Dembele is keen on a Saints move.
Southampton have £3million bid accepted for Moussa Dembele
The first take from this is, £3million for Dembele is an utter bargain. A player that scored north of 20 goals for Lyon last season – and cost nearly £20million in the first place to sign him from Celtic. The Saints are getting value for money.
But the second take is, would Dembele move to Southampton? Yes, Nathan Jones’ side are showing green shoots of recovery this month. But they sit rock bottom in the Premier League. It is down to Dembele if he wants to join them.
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