Southampton are interested in signing Manchester City centre back Jadel Katongo.
According to Alan Nixon, as posted on his Patreon, Saints are chasing the 19-year-old, but could have competition from Premier League side Burnley.
Burnley manager and Man City legend Vincent Kompany is said to be an admirer of Katongo, with the club watching him last week.
He is also well known to Saints’ Director of Football Jason Wilcox, who was academy director at City until moving to St Mary’s in the summer.
Who is Jadel Katongo?
Katongo is predominantly a centre-back, but has been playing as a defensive midfielder more recently.
He is currently on loan at Peterborough United in League One, where he has made six appearances so far, with Posh sat in fourth place, five points off top spot.
This is Katongo’s first loan move away from City, having been at the club since under-9 level.
He is also an England under-20 international, having also represented his national side at under-16 level and under-18 level.
The verdict
Katongo would be another great signing for Saints.
It is unknown when exactly his contract expires, after he signed his first professional deal at the club in the summer of 2022.
If Katongo were to join Saints, he would join a long line of young Manchester City players that have made the move to the South Coast, with Shea Charles, Josh McNamara, and Taylor Harwood-Bellis (loan with an option to buy) all joining in the summer.
Juan Larios, Gavin Bazunu and Samuel Edozie all joined the summer before from the champions of Europe, too.
Katongo is known to be a ball-playing centre back, so would suit manager Russell Martin’s style of play.
But the pull of potentially playing in the Premier League, and playing under a City Legend, could also be enough to sway Katongo to staying in the North West.