Southampton’s hopes of signing Levante winger Jorge de Frutos this summer appear to have been handed a huge boost, with the La Liga side having reportedly lowered their asking price for the 24-year-old.
According to reports from Spain, Levante are willing to sell de Frutos for just €15m (£12.8m) this summer, despite him reportedly having a €25m release clause with Les Granotes.
Southampton have been linked with a move for the 24-year-old recently, and given that the club’s finances have undoubtedly been negatively impacted by the current viral outbreak, this news could be a huge boost for the Saints’ chances of signing the Spaniard this summer.
However, Real Madrid are also seemingly keen on bringing de Frutos back to the Bernabeu, having sold him to Levante last summer, so Martin Semmens may have to act fast if he wants to steal a march on Los Blancos and convince him to move to St Mary’s instead.
Should Southampton move for de Frutos?
Yes
No
The winger has enjoyed an impressive debut campaign with Levante so far, having contributed three goals and seven assists in the Spanish top flight, resulting in an average WhoScored match rating of 6.69/10.
WhoScored suggests that de Frutos likes to dribble, cross and tackle, which immediately marks him out as someone suited to Hasenhuttl’s style of play at Southampton, with his wingers expected to regularly track back and defend.
The Saints have often lacked the final pass on attacks this season, which has regularly seen them struggle to find the back of the net, with just 36 goals in their 29 top-flight fixtures so far.
The £7.2m-rated winger is someone who could help provide that extra bit of quality in the final third, as he has contributed one key pass per game in La Liga this season, which would rank him as the joint-third best in Southampton’s squad for 2020/21.
Therefore, it seems clear that the Saints could benefit from a player of his quality, so given this price reduction, Semmens should definitely try and bring him to St Mary’s this summer.
In other news… Bye-bye Jankewitz: Semmens should seal Saints swoop for £3.6m-rated beast this summer