Saints Tracking Red Bull Salzburg Star Wednesday, 20th Jun 2018 09:21 Saints have history with Red Bull Salzburg having signed Sadio Mane from them back in 2014 and also playing a pre season game there the following year, they could be shopping there again.
The target this time according to The Mirror is Amadou Haidara the 20 year old Mali International who has been with the Austrian club for two seasons since arriving from his native country.
His first season was spent out on loan to RB Salzburg's affiliated club FC Liefering in the Austrian 2nd tier and he returned to the club in 2017 and broke through in a big way helping RB Salzburg to not only the Austrian title but the semi final's of the Europa League where they narrowly lost to Olympic Marseille.
Described as a midfielder able to play mainly centrally but also out wide he has been identified by Salzburg's sister club Red Bull Leipzig as a potential replacement for Naby Keita, who joins Liverpool this summer having also had a spell at RB Salzburg.
Saints will also have competition from Tottenham if the media reports are correct, the fee for Haidara seems to be starting at £15 million with the question being does the player himself want to play in the Premier League and if so does he want to play regularly.
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BaselSaint added 09:52 - Jun 20
The bin dippers are already on alert no doubt - just in case. | | |
halftimeorange added 11:30 - Jun 20
Saints do need a playmaker, if that is what Haidara is - but he sounds rather like Boufal. On yesterday's Wilshire thread most posters dismissed him as a sicknote or an egoist but, unlike Haidara, Wilshire has proved in the EPL that he is creative and talented. To compare him to Perry Groves or Charlie George is unfair - they were from a different era and a half-fit Wilshire would probably be fitter than either of them in their heydays. Also, Shaqiri has shown enough with Stoke to be of interest, irrespective of one indifferent performance for Switzerland. For such a key position - one that has been vacant at Saints since Lallana left (apart from a couple of Sims cameos) - proven ability rather than taking a gamble is key. And even if Wilshire is injury prone, so is the beloved Austin and we've sold both Walcott and Oxlade-Chamberlain to Arsenal and both have had lengthy spells on the sidelines. In today's super-competitive EPL, getting half a season from a quality player like Wilshire has to be worthwhile and probably the difference between top half or not. £90K per week has been quoted. That's nothing now if Saints want to be taken seriously. I'd swap Austin for Defoe for that matter. | | |
helpineedsomebody added 12:30 - Jun 20
for me charlie when fit will get you goals, as he says put the ball in the box ile do the rest. as some wag said in the echo today jack wheelchair sums him up perfectly . i cant see him leaving london so i think he will sign for west ham & pelligrino not mr average mh | | |
underweststand added 12:32 - Jun 20
If the Red Bull connection is supposed to be significant then we all think back to the signing of Mane....so the answer is simple. If he's half as good as Mane was ..then at that price range he's worththea chance. We need to get speed and creativity in the midfield. to half time orange...I recall the Charlie George and the Perry Groves era, and to be fair , the pace of the game was somewhat slower , and they both lacked real pace even then. I 'd love to be proved wrong - but I still think signing Wilshere is a no-go (for me). It's sad about his (or any player's injury problems) but every lay-off takes something away from their game and with the increasing years recovery doesn't get easier. He's got a bit of a temper and clearly felt embarrassed beaten to the ball by a centre half, as his resulting " tussle" with Jack Stephens showed last season. I still consider him "a bit of a loose cannon , and Mark Hughes seems pretty up front with his comments /criticism , and the first time that Jack gets some stick for his behaviour , I can forsee another Boufal situation developing. We can't consider paying someone £60K-70K a week if they end up on the naughty step, or having to train with the U23's as a "punishment" . SO...if Hiadara is half the player everyone claims he is ..then let's get him onboard ASAP. | | |
richardmdcooper added 13:31 - Jun 20
Agree with underweststand- this guy seems a much better fit than Wilshere who is far too injury prone. Guys like him, Lallana, Shaw and Darren Anderton back in the day are just too unreliable as they’re out half the time. Plus, I don’t even think Wilshere is that good | | |
BoondockSaint added 14:12 - Jun 20
We should get this guy in immediately if RB Leipzig likes him. Paul "Black Box" Mitchell is now their head of recruitment and development and that's good enough for me! | | |
1970 added 17:01 - Jun 20
the papers are saying schniederlin has been told he can leave the mini bin dippers, that would be far better than jack chain smoking Wiltshire anyday, .BoondockSaint' I think paul Mitchell is at Leicester now which poor old levy wasn't happy about but I could be wrong, | | |
1970 added 20:08 - Jun 20
Boondocksaint hes obviously way to ambitious for us | | |
TimSaint added 08:46 - Jun 21
Halftime orange - you seem to have an awful lot of faith in a pair of highly paid players that struggled to get in the Bournemouth team last season. Not really the way forward for Saints, are they ? | | |
IWOZTHERE added 15:01 - Jun 21
We urgently need a top creative midfielder, two if Tadic goes. We're well served deeper by Romeu and Lemina and I get the impression that's Haidara's position. So why? | | |
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