Media reports are saying that Saints have agreed personal terms with Stade Brest defender Romain Perraud, now they just need to agree a fee with the French club from whom they also signed Ibrahima Diallo last summer.
Leeds united have long been admirers of Romain Perraud, but if media reports are to be believed then Saints have stolen a march on the Yorkshire club and left back Perraud will be the replacement for the soon to depart Ryan Bertrand.
So who is Perraud ? Here we take a look .
Well he is a 23 year old Frenchman who started his career at Nice but made only a few appearances for the club and spent 2018/19 season on loan in the second tier of French football at Paris FC.
His form impressed Stade Brest who in the summer of 2019 paid just under £2 million to sign him on a permanent basis, his first season was solid if not spectacular with the French season ending in March with the outbreak of the Covid 19 pandemic.
But in 2020/21 he has been one of Brest's best players barely missing a game and more importantly from a Saints perspective he has been not only good from a defensive perspective, but also in attack, scoring 3 goals plus 7 assists in 36 Ligue 1 games.
So from those stats he would seem like an exciting addition to the Saints squad .
The only real worry would be that he appears to be a late starter, he will turn 24 in September and only has two seasons of experience in top flight football in France with Stad Brest having been no more than a squad player with OSG Nice.
From an International perspective, Perraud played for France at every level up to Under 20, but has failed to make the jump up to the U21 side or the full international squad just yet.
Saints are undoubtedly buying into the potential he has shown in the past year and from this perspective he is valued at around £7 million according to transfermarkt, but Saints still have to negotiate a fee with Brest and with Leeds United and also Newcastle still sniffing around that could push the fee higher, but is seems Saints have the advantage in that they have agreed terms with the player and he wants to come to St Mary's.
Perraud only signed a new 4 year deal with Stad Brest in January so the French Club can call the shots on price, but even with other clubs interested it will perhaps not rise too much.
Certainly Romain Perraud seems to be the type of player that Saints target and target well, some experience but not yet quite there in terms of potential and with a hunger to succeed.