Derby County, Southampton and Watford face new threat in race to sign Max Johnston | OneFootball

The 21-year-old is a transfer target for teams across the continent this summer.

Derby County, Southampton and Watford now face new competition in the race to sign right-back Max Johnston.

Sturm Graz's Scottish full-back has been on the radars of club across Europe this summer following an impressive season last time out in Austria.

The 21-year-old provided six direct goal contributions in just 24 appearances for Sturm.

With Kyle Walker-Peters leaving as a free agent, and with Will Still's former club RC Lens also interested in Johnston, it was no shock to see reports linking the Saints with Johnston earlier in the summer, although news surrounding their pursuit of him has died down a bit.

Derby, on the other hand, have been in the thick of the battle to sign the defender, who has also received interest from Atalanta, Augsburg and Hamburg this summer.

Sky Sports' Anthony Joseph reported that the Rams had seen a £1.4 million offer for Johnston rejected by Sturm. According to a previous social media post from the journalist, they value him at £3 million.

An enquiry about the defender was also sent by Watford, as per Sky Sports, as well as French side St Etienne.

Derby and Southampton face new challenger in Max Johnston transfer race

Any fears that Derby, Southampton, should they rekindle their interest in Johnston, or Watford may have of not landing the right-sided defender this summer will be compounded by the latest reports, linking the Scottish international with a move to Greece. According to Pete O'Rourke, Panathinaikos have entered the race for the 21-year-old.

Right-back is one of the few areas that John Eustace hasn't added to so far this summer with his 10 new signings. County have also held talks about a loan move for Chelsea's Alfie Gilchrist, who spent last season with Sheffield United, as per Mike McGrath.

That deal may be tricky as, according to The Athletic, his Premier League parent club only want to sell Gilchrist and would look to earn £5 million from him.

Derby, Southampton and Watford may face European football hurdle in Max Johnston race

Johnston has previously spoken about wanting to play at the "top" level at some point in his career. Panathinaikos wouldn't be able to offer a route back to the UK, or one to the Premier League, to Johnston, but he may get to continue playing football in European competitions with them.

They are currently involved in the qualification rounds for the Europa League after being knocked out by Rangers in the preliminary Champions League stages.

That level of appeal may be hard for Derby, Southampton or Watford to overcome, especially since Johnston has already shown that he is not afraid to take the risk of going to an unknown country to apply his trade.