Southampton could be forgiven for being sick of the sight of fellow Premier League new boys Ipswich Town this summer.
Not only did Ipswich beat Southampton to automatic promotion from the Championship last summer, they have also look to have beaten Russell Martin‘s side to the signing of Liam Delap.
Both Southampton and Ipswich had agreed a deal worth up to £20 million with Manchester City for 21-year-old striker Delap, but the player appears to have chosen to join Ipswich.
That means Martin’s search for a new striker to fire Southampton to safety next season must continue, but it has now emerged that the St Mary’s club could miss out to Ipswich for another player this summer.
Ipswich Town ‘interested’ in Southampton target Welington
It has been reported that Southampton are edging closer to a deal for Welington, the Brazilian left-back from São Paulo.
The 23-year-old is out of contract at the end of the year and the Saints looked to have beaten Italian side Torino to his signature with a view to pay a small fee to bring him to the club this summer.
However, that could now be sabotaged by Ipswich, with Kieran McKenna’s side registering their own interest in a deal fresh from beating Southampton to Delap.
That is according to ESPN Brazil, who report that despite having a deal agreed with Southampton ‘there is also Ipswich’s interest in the athlete’.
The report goes on to state that ‘at first, Southampton emerged as favourite to sign the defender’ but Ipswich have ‘also become interested in the player’.
Southampton must beat Ipswich to Welington signing
Martin has already added one left-back to his squad this summer, with 30-year-old Charlie Taylor joining Southampton as a free agent.
The fact that the Saints boss is targeting another left-back could be telling for two reasons, though.
The first is that Martin tweaked his tactics to play with a back three at the end of last season and could actually view Taylor as a left centre-back in this system, with the second being that Ryan Manning struggled defensively last term.
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Welington is more of an all-rounder than Manning, with his defensive capabilities not compromised by his desire to go forward in the same way as the Irishman.
Not only would it be a real sickener to miss out to a probable relegation rival to a second target, but Welington looks to be a player Southampton are really keen on.
With that in mind, the Saints simply cannot afford to let Ipswich sign Welington instead of them this summer.