Club Now Closing On Southampton Star In ‘Spectacular Move’ | OneFootball

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Hellas Verona are on the verge of hijacking Southampton star Armel Bella-Kotchap’s switch to Nantes in a ‘spectacular move’.

Southampton signed the German centre-back Bochum in the summer of 2022, but the move for the centre-back did not go as expected.

Bella-Kotchap has made only 31 appearances for Saints so far and featured only four times for them in the league last term as he saw them getting relegated to the Championship.

Under new manager Will Still, Southampton are going through a restructuring and have seen some of the big names depart from the squad this summer.

Belal-Kotchap is in his final year of his contract and with several clubs showing interest, Saints are pushing for his transfer.

French outfit Nantes are among his suitors and they want to sign him on loan with an option to buy him in the future and it was suggested that they managed to find an agreement with Southampton.

However, now there is a twist in the story, as according to Italian journalist Alfredo Pedulla, Serie A outfit Hellas Verona are on the verge of hijacking Bella-Kotchap’s switch to Nantes in what is described as a ‘spectacular move’.

The deal which looks to have been struck between Southampton and Hellas Verona is for a season-long loan, and the Italian side are standing by to give him a medical.

Bella-Kotchap is in the final year of his deal with Southampton but the Saints have an option to extend his deal for a further one year.

Southampton have brought in Joshua Quarshie from Hoffenheim this summer to strengthen their centre-back options and Bella-Kotchap has not featured for Still once so far this season.

Hellas Verona have not been the only Italian outfit showing their interest in the Southampton star as Udinese also considered him as a replacement for Jaka Bijol, who left to join Leeds United.