Arsenal, AC Milan and Monaco are competing to sign Southampton left-back Ryan Bertrand after contract talks broke down.
With his contract set to expire in the summer, Premier League sides and two European giants have begun talks to take advantage of the 31-year-old's expiring deal. Man City are also known to have made contact.
The Saints rejected an offer from Arsenal in the January transfer window as it was hoped that an agreement over a new contract would be reached, but manager Ralph Hasenhuttl admits that the two parties haven't come to an accord.
What's Hasenhuttl said?
“We are looking at other targets because the offer we have made has not been accepted from his side,” Hasenhuttl said ahead of his side's 2-0 defeat at Liverpool at the weekend.
“When there is no solution for the future, we will have to look at other options in this position.”
What happens next?
As Hasenhuttl has stated, Southampton will seek replacements as Bertrand assesses his next move.
His exit could be followed by that of star man Danny Ings, whose contract expires in June 2022, leaving the St Mary's club with a potential last chance to cash in on the striker.
The 28-year-old wants a contract that would break the wage structure on the south coast and has interest from the likes of Spurs over a future transfer.
At Arsenal, they would likely use Bertrand as a back-up option to Kieran Tierney, who is highly regarded at the Emirates. However, the Scot's injury record could see Bertrand given plenty of playing time.
In recent weeks, Mikel Arteta has been forced to use Granit Xhaka as a left-back away from his usual central midfield spot.
The Gunners also poached Cedric Soares from Southampton in January 2020 on a cut-price deal when his contract was expiring.
Similarly, Man City would likely use Bertrand in rotation and to boost their homegrown quota as they target spending much of their transfer budget on one big-name striker, such as Borussia Dortmund's Erling Haaland.
They would also likely need to create space by releasing one of their current full-backs but it could represent good business.
Milan have already had success in signing players from the English market after taking Fikayo Tomori and Diogo Dalot on loan from Chelsea and Manchester United, respectively, this season.
Meanwhile, Monaco's pursuit is being led by sporting director Paul Mitchell, a well-travelled Englishman, who was brought in from RB Leipzig.
Further reading
- Arsenal eye £7m move for Ajax keeper Onana but face wait over doping ban appeal
- Kamaldeen Sulemana: Ghana wonderkid with 'more potential than Neymar' on Man Utd's radar
