Exclusive: Southampton FC plot move for midfielder who Liverpool sold for £10m | OneFootball

Southampton are eyeing up a move for ex-Liverpool and current RB Salzburg midfielder Bobby Clark, FLW understands.

Southampton are eyeing up a move for ex-Liverpool and current RB Salzburg midfielder Bobby Clark, Football League World has exclusively been informed.

The versatile 20-year-old central midfielder signed with the Austrian giants last summer, leaving Anfield for a reported fee of £10m.

Will Still is leading Southampton into their first summer transfer window with him at the helm, and Saints have already kicked off their summer recruitment drive with the addition of central defender Joshua Quarshie from Hoffenheim for £3.5m.

Southampton plotting move for RB Salzburg midfielder Bobby Clark

Football League World has exclusively been informed that Southampton are eyeing up a move for RB Salzburg midfielder, Bobby Clark.

Having spent time with Birmingham City and Newcastle United as a youngster, Clark eventually signed for Liverpool from the Magpies in the summer of 2021, in a deal understood to have been worth £1.5m.

The former England youth international wouldn't take long to start turning heads at Kirkby, bagging 13 goals and providing five assists in 23 Under-18 Premier League appearances during the 2021/22 season.

He would eventually make his professional debut in August 2022, coming off the bench to feature in Liverpool's 9-0 win over AFC Bournemouth at Anfield.

Clark would go on to make 14 first-team appearances for the Reds, which included him once again coming off the bench, this time in Liverpool's Carabao Cup win over Chelsea in 2024.

He was then sold to Austrian side RB Salzburg in August 2024 for a fee of £10m, which also saw Liverpool insert a 17.5 per cent sell-on clause in the deal.

Bobby Clark may well jump at Southampton opportunity

However, his time in Austria hasn't really gone to plan for Clark so far.

The 20-year-old made just seven league starts for Salzburg in 2024/25, and was left out of their squad for the FIFA Club World Cup, with manager Thomas Letsch making it clear as to why that decision was taken.

Speaking with Salzburg 24 via the Liverpool Echo, he said: "I decided on other players. I wasn’t satisfied with Bobby’s training week and therefore told him he wasn’t in the squad."

Indeed, he's been linked with a swift return back to English football since the most recent winter transfer window, when Swansea City were named among a host of clubs as being keen on a loan deal.

Derby County and Hull City were both linked with Clark last winter too, as were Scottish giants Rangers.

So, despite being contracted with Salzburg until the summer of 2029, it would seem likely that Clark would have a real interest in the prospect of reigniting his career back in English football.

Given how his stint in Austria has gone so far, Salzburg will surely take a significant loss on Clark, but that could be excellent news for Southampton, as they could bag an evidently talented young player with bags of potential for a cut-price fee, enabling Still and his coaching staff to quietly develop him into what they hope could be a cornerstone piece of the club's future.