News

Southampton: Club ‘still in the race’ for Axel Disasi

|
Image for Southampton: Club ‘still in the race’ for Axel Disasi

Premier League side Southampton are reportedly ‘still in the race’ with Arsenal to sign Stade de Reims central defender Axel Disasi.

French outlet L’Union recently talked about Southampton’s interest in signing Disasi (via Sport Witness). They report that Reims want a fee of €15 million (£13.4 million) to part ways with the Frenchman and claim that Wolves have offered that amount to the Ligue 1 side. They don’t report if that offer has been accepted or rejected by Reims, but they do state that the Saints and Arsenal are ‘still in the race’ for the 22-year-old defender.

1 of 15

Who scored Southampton's first goal of the season?

It is said that Reims are currently ‘calm’ about the situation and Disasi isn’t looking to ‘rush’ into making a decision about his future at this point.

Last month, the Daily Mail had reported that the Saints are ‘keen’ on signing the Reims defender. They hadn’t just mentioned Arsenal’s interest, but had also talked about potential interest from Tottenham Hotspur.

Would Disasi be a good Vestergaard replacement?

Surely!

Surely!

I don't think so

I don't think so

TIF Thoughts…

Considering that reports linking Southampton with a move for Disasi come from both England and France, there could be something in this rumour. The fact that the Saints were eyeing a move for Mohammed Salisu shows that they might indeed be looking at bolstering their backline in the summer.

However, based on Disasi’s Ligue 1 performances in 2019/20, he may not exactly command an immediate place in the Saints team if he was to make the switch to St. Mary’s.

According to WhoScored, in 27 top-flight appearances, Disasi’s rates of tackles of per game (1.2) and interceptions per game (1) would rank him joint-13th and joint-9th respectively among the entire Southampton squad, while his more impressive rate of clearances per match (3.6) would rank him fourth compared to his would-be peers – albeit behind the defensive trio of Jack Stephens, Jannik Vestergaard and Jan Bednarek.

This shows that while Disasi could have the ability to play for Southampton, whether he would be better than what Ralph Hasenhuttl already has at his disposal is another matter.

Share this article

European Football Writer. Contributed for FootballItalia, Manchester United, Manchester Evening News, Calciomercato, GFFN and more.