The Evening Standard’s Jack Rosser has told TIF that Southampton have tried to sign Bologna defender Takehiro Tomiyasu twice this year.
The Saints aren’t the only Premier League interested in signing Tomiyasu, with Sky Sports reporting back in June that Tottenham Hotspur had opened talks to sign the Japanese player.
Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side leaked 68 goals in the Premier League last season, the second highest amount in the league behind Sheffield United.
With that in mind, the Austrian manager looked to tighten up his defence with the signing of the 6 ft 2 Tomiyasu, with Rosser telling TIF: “Southampton and Villa both had sort of approaches knocked back for him in January and Saints tried to then to get it done in February for the summer.”
Tomiyasu can operate as both a centre-back and right-back but did also feature twice as a left-back for Bologna last season. The Japanese international also got on the scoresheet twice for Bologna when playing as a right-back.
If Southampton do decide to make another move for Tomiyasu and he arrives at St Mary’s, then he could be seen as a replacement for Jannik Vestergaard who, according to the Daily Mail is another target for Tottenham Hotspur.