Southampton will hope Jannik Vestergaard can follow in footsteps of those before him, but stay at club

Add as preferred source on Google

Southampton are on the verge of completing a deal to sign Danish defender Jannik Vestergaard from Borussia Monchengladbach. The deal is reported by Sky Sports to be worth around £18 million and the defender will undergo a medical at St Mary’s this week.

It is a shrewd piece of business from Southampton, who need to improve all over the pitch after a poor 2017-18 campaign.

In Vestergaard, the Saints have snapped up a genuine talent and one who might follow a recent trajectory for Southampton centre-back recruits.

Dejan Lovren thrived at Southampton following his arrival from Lyon. Such form eventually saw the Croatian join Liverpool. Toby Alderweireld was another central defender snapped up by Southampton. At the end of his loan deal from Atletico Madrid, the Saints tried to sign him up but the Belgian headed to Tottenham Hotspur.

Then there is the world’s most expensive defender. Southampton signed Virgil van Dijk from Celtic at a very similar stage in his career. He went on to thrive at St Mary’s and eventually joined Liverpool in a £75 million deal.

Will Vestergaard ever be worth as much? Who knows. But he has all the attributes to do so and will hope to have a similar impact as those before him at St Mary’s.