Struggling Southampton have a growing interest in goalkeeper Marcus Bettinelli, of relegation rivals Fulham, according to the Daily Mail.
Sergio Rico has taken up the number one spot at Craven Cottage in Claudio Ranieri’s struggling side and that has reportedly made the Saints think that they can engineer a January swoop.
Bettinelli only signed a new Cottagers contract earlier this season but his current first team situation has apparently raised the prospect of him leaving.
He is reportedly of interest to a host of top flight clubs because he meets the homegrown quota, but Ranieri should put the blockers on any potential move next month.
The Italian has installed Rico as his number one goalkeeper but is has done nothing to spark a defensive improvement at the Cottage.
Fulham’s intense summer spending has ripped apart pretty much everything that got them out of the Championship; intricate football, huge togetherness and willingness to fight.
Bettinelli embodies what got them out of the second tier and Ranieri could do with a slice of that as he seeks to engineer something to build a survival bid on.
Offloading Bettinelli would not go down well with the fans either and the glovesman’s presence in Gareth Southgate’s England squads only underline the scale of his potential.
Instead of selling him to a relegation rival, Ranieri should make Bettinelli his number one goalkeeper.