Lazio striker ‘has turned down’ Southampton again amid late-window search | OneFootball

Alfredo Pedullà reports that Lazio forward Ratkov has again turned down a move to St Mary's, frustrating Southampton's late push for a striker.

Lazio bought Ratkov to replace Valentín Castellanos, who leads West Ham's line at St Mary's tonight.

Gennaro Gattuso is not convinced, he prefers a quicker, more mobile No 9. The Laziali reports Ratkov has not scored a competitive goal since January.

Lazio are also operating under a net-zero transfer limit, so nobody replaces Ratkov until someone buys him. The 22-year-old has rejected English football twice in 12 days, and Dinamo Moscow’s offer of around 15m earlier this month went the same way.

For Southampton, the picture up front looks healthy. Cyle Larin keeps scoring, he was withdrawn with 12 minutes left on Saturday and Divin Mubama came on to win the Stoke game. Ben Brereton Diaz is still at St Mary's.

Lazio paid Salzburg around 3m in January, and Transfermarkt now values Ratkov at 8.5m. Further back is thinner, with Shea Charles leaving for Fulham for 26m plus add-ons, leaving academy midfielder Cameron Bragg and Caspar Jander, who has not kicked a competitive ball since limping out of a friendly at Eastleigh, as the only cover for Flynn Downes.

A Serbian forward declining from Rome changes little for Southampton and might even close a distraction. The focus now is the final seven days and whether the shopping list at Staplewood points to the right aisle.

Source: Sainstmarching.com

“Artificial intelligence was used to assist in creating this article based on reporting from the original source quoted.”