Saints are said to have enquired about Brest's defensive midfielder Ibrahima Diallo as the solution to their defensive midfield issues.
Saints are said to be after Ibrahima Diallo as well as Florentino Luis, Olivier Ntcham, Joey Veerman and Chelsea's Ruben Loftus-Cheek and a raft of other players accoring to the media, but it is Diallo that is said to be at the forefront at least if you belive the French media.
L'Equipe reports that Southampton are exploring a move worth around €15million, with bonuses, which they claim could be enough to get a deal done.
Indeed, it has been reported in France that Brest are looking for potential replacements for Diallo in the event that he leaves before the deadline.
Diallo has been an important member of the Brest squad since he joined from Monaco who signed permanently from Monaco in the summer of 2019 after a year on loan.
L'Equipe also claim that Saints have made an initial enquiry for Diallo and that they are expected to return with a formal offer for the France U20 international.
Diallo turned 21 in March of this year, but is still relatively inexperienced, he has featured 5 times already this season for Brest and last season played 19 times in Ligue 1 for the French club.
But those 24 appearances are his only top flight games in France adding to the 23 he played in Brest's promotion season in the 2nd tier.
So will a £13 million outlay for the player turn out to be another case of trying to buy in potential that doesn't quite make the grade or will it be another great find ?
That is the big question, from the stats and the fact that he cost Brest less than £3 million, I would say if we bought him as one for the future at around £8 million he would be a good find, but once you start paying over £13 million you want just that little bit more experience.