Bologna sporting director Riccardo Bigon has revealed that West Ham United and Southampton target Takehiro Tomiyasu will not leave the club this summer.
Bigon was recently interviewed by Rai Sport (as per Zerocinquantuno) recently and he was asked about Tomiyasu and if the club would need to sell some players. But Bigon confirmed that Bologna don’t need to sell players despite the pandemic and they aren’t willing to sell their most requested players as well. He also said that there is a ‘technical project’ in place for the players already.
This comes as bad news for Southampton, who have been linked with a move for the Japanese defender in recent weeks. CalcioMercato had claimed that the Saints and West Ham have joined Roma in the race to sign Tomiyasu. But it now seems as though they won’t sign the defender this summer.
Could Tomiyasu replace Cedric in the future?
I don't think so
Absolutely
TIF Thoughts…
Tomiyasu had joined Sinisa Mihajlovic’s side from Belgian club Sint-Truidense in the summer of 2019. He has already become a regular in the first-team at Bologna, making 21 appearances in all competitions and assisting twice. Tomiyasu has played at both right-back and centre-back this season.
With Jannik Vestergaard being linked with a move to Leicester and Cedric Soares’ contract running out at the end of the month, Southampton might need a defender who can play at right-back and centre-back. So not being able to sign Tomiyasu comes as a blow to the Saints. So the club might now need to focus on other targets to potentially bolster their backline this summer.