According to Sky Sports, Southampton have been offered the chance to sign Lyon right-back Rafael, while Crystal Palace and Brighton have also been mentioned as a potential destination for the defender.
What’s the word, then?
Well, Sky Sports mention that the Premier League trio are all in the market for a new right-back this month, and Lyon are opening to selling the 2-cap Brazil international.
The 29-year-old was signed by the Ligue 1 club back in 2015, and has made 129 appearances for the French side, scoring two goals and recording 11 assists.
However, this season, Rafael has made only seven league appearances having lost his place to Kenny Tete, who has made double the amount of outings in France’s top-flight.
As things stand, Ralph Hasenhuttl only has two senior right-backs at his disposal in Yan Valery and Cedric Soares, although the latter has revealed that he intends to leave St Mary’s at the end of the campaign when his contract expires.
Would ensure that Hasenhuttl didn’t make an empty promise
Towards the end of December, the former RB Leipzig manager promised that he would make signings to bolster the full-back positions at St Mary’s.
The Austrian said: “It is absolutely clear that we must do something with the full-back positions. This is definitely a position we’re looking at for the moment and we will do something.”
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If Southampton took up the opportunity to sign Rafael, it would mean that Hasenhuttl has delivered on his words to reinforce the full-back areas by capturing the 29-year-old’s signature.
It would be a relatively risky move to sign a player who is nearing his thirties and one who has also lost his place to a younger, fresher option in 24-year-old Tete.
But if you were to ignore the concerns over this deal, one positive would be that Hasenhuttl has come good on his promise to the St Mary’s faithful and done something about the full-back positions.
In other news, this Southampton target is no better than Jack Stephens or Jan Bednarek and shouldn’t be signed…
