Saints are said to be looking at swooping in Spain but face other Premier League competiton in ther quest to land the latest hot prospect at Barcelona.

Premier League clubs Crystal Palace and West Ham are joining Saints in considering a swoop for Barcelona youngster Munir El Haddadi.

The 21-year-old spent last season on loan at Valencia, scoring 6 goals in 32 appearances for the Spanish club.

Munir came through the youth ranks at Barcelona but has struggled to nail down a regular first-team spot at the Neu Camp with such an array of experienced talent ahead of him and with hsi progress blocked is touted for a move away to further his career.

The opening bids are said to be around £7 million although Barca want around £12 million for a player who made his first team debut 3 years ago but has since managed only 26 appearances for Barca in Liga 1, prompting the succesful season long loan at Valencia last term.

His initial form for Barca in 2014 won him a call up to the Spanish squad and a single cap in September of that year, however his failure to oust the sperstars of Barca has seen his International career stall.

A report from FourFourTwo magazine once noted his composure on the ball, tricks, speed, and highlighted his finishing ability and set-pieces, that sounds very much like the description of either Dusan Tadic or Sofiane Boufal and his arrival would surely see the departure of at least one of them.

Photo: Action Images

bstokesaint added 12:46 - Jul 11 We definitely need to see some attacking flair this season. So many people put the lack of goals on Puel's doorstep last season, but the truth is the attacking players we had really let him down. Tadic is great on his day, but has far too many invisible games. Boufal looks disinterested and petulant when he's called on. Someone needs to make chances though or we're in for another season of '0' scores.

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landerwal added 13:53 - Jul 11 We could do well by buying him. Barcelona don't have second raters on their books and even those players who don't make it make their first team are class e.g. Romeau
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1885_SFC added 14:33 - Jul 11 Hope the stories linking him with us are true. He's a terrific young prospect - exactly the sort we tend to target. Prior to moving to Barca he was superb and scored goals for fun. As someone mentioned above - he was always going to find it difficult at Barca with the array of talent ahead of him there. Sounds like he's lost his way just a tad and a move to Saints could well rekindle his form of old. Would love this signing to happen.

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highfield49 added 16:13 - Jul 11 Well we're doing a lot better in the rumour stakes than Liverpoo, they seem totally obsessed by some Dutch defender. If there is any substance in this rumour I imagine it would be Tadic on his way to make room, he seemed to lose his way last season and we may well have seen the best of him in a Saints shirt.
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Bowlercow added 16:44 - Jul 11 This could well be the first MoPe influenced signing Sounds very promising but like others have said it could be the end for Tadic or Boufal
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SaintBrock added 18:57 - Jul 11 How did we get a monitor on his ankle? Will it work on Apple Maps?
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