Reported £10m Southampton target Rafael Toloi scores own goal and is sent off in weekend horror-show

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At the end of September, it was being reported that Southampton had started to eye up the man needed to strengthen their defence. The Sun reported that the Saints were lining up a £10 million bid for the Brazilian defender Rafael Toloi at Atalanta.

It is a deal that made sense on paper. Toloi has been a solid option in Italy for some time now and Southampton were looking weak at the back. Jannik Vestergaard had struggled since his arrival and others were not fulfilling their potential either. A January bid may have been in the offing.

However, things have changed at Southampton. Mark Hughes is no longer the manager and Ralph Hasenhuttl may not share the desire to bring the Brazilian to St Mary’s.

Based on the evidence from this weekend, Southampton fans will hope that is the case.

Toloi had a horrible weekend performance. Atalanta lost 3-1 at Genoa. Toloi started things off by scoring an own goal. Things soon turned worse when he was sent off in the final minute. A red card and an own goal are hardly ringing endorsements.

Southampton might be well-placed to look elsewhere come January.