Southampton have made a record bid for Irish youngster and Waterford striker Romeo Akachukwu, but face strong competition for his signature.
According to the Irish Independent, Saints have submitted a bid that would break the record for a player from the League of Ireland, which would be over £500,000.
However, whilst Saints hold the strongest interest, Newcastle United, Arsenal and Manchester City are all said to have joined the race for the 17-year-old.
Waterford’s parent club, League One side Fleetwood Town, are also said to have big interest.
City and Arsenal are said to just want to bring Akachukwu into their academy sides, but Saints are said to have offered first team football in an attempt to entice him to the south coast.
He has two weeks left on his deal at Waterford, but is not able to complete a permanent move to a club in the United Kingdom until July, when he turns 18.
Akachukwu to Saints?
Akachukwu is clearly a highly-rated and sought after player.
The Republic of Ireland U19 international has recently helped Waterford to promotion back to the Irish top flight, scoring a hat-trick in the play-off semi-final win over Athlone Town.
He also massively impressed at the U17 Euros for Ireland last summer, too.
The verdict
This does fit the trend of Southampton signing young players to bring through to their first team.
Clearly Ireland has been somewhere Saints have been scouting, with them also being linked to midfielder Adam Murphy from St Pat’s in the last few days too.
Akachukwu does seem like he would be a good signing, and if developed correctly, we could see him up front with the likes of Samuel Amo-Ameyaw in a few years time.
As Saints prepare for the January transfer window, it looks like younger players might be the key targets for Jason Wilcox and the recruitment team, with Tom Fellows also linked.