According to Hampshire Live, Southampton defender Pascal Kpohomouh will leave the club later this month, with Middlesbrough, Stoke City and Derby County ‘circling’.
Middlesbrough, Stoke and Derby are all looking to bolster their defensive options this summer ahead of the 2021/22 campaign and look to have identified Southampton’s Kpohomouh as a potential new recruit.
The 19-year-old is set to leave St. Mary’s when his contract expires in a few weeks time and will become a free agent. He will then be able to join a new club of his choosing for no transfer fee.
With purse strings tight at a number of EFL clubs due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many sides are looking to the free agent market for bargain deals.
The youngster has already had trial spells at all three Championship clubs and impressed in each. His performances have meant that the trio are all now interested in bringing the player into their respective squads for the upcoming season.
It is not known whether Kpohomouh would join up with the first-team or whether he would be given his opportunity in the youth set up.
The centre-back only signed his first professional deal with Southampton back in 2018, arriving from Manchester City’s academy. But he failed to make an appearance in the senior side, or see himself included in the matchday squad on any occasion and will move on this summer.
However he did feature for Southampton’s ‘B Team’ in the EFL Trophy four times, whereas the rest of his outings were for the U18s and U23s.
