Southampton are one of the clubs to have shown interest in Mali youngster Issa Tounkara.
That’s at least what Africa Foot are now reporting. The 17-year-old is with Académie des Étoiles du Mandé, a training centre based in Mali, and has attracted Southampton’s attention.
The defensive midfielder’s rise helped him make it to Mali’s squad for the U17 African Cup of Nations last year. He captained his country in the tournament where Mali lost the final to Morocco on penalties.
Tounkara, however, didn’t make it to the U17 World Cup squad in November. Reports back then cited an injury as the reason.
The young Malian has managed to attract interest from several European clubs. Africa Foot make no mention of their details apart from Tonda Eckert’s side. In fact, the Saints have made an attempt to bring him to St Mary’s.
According to the report, Southampton have now made a formal €1m offer to Académie des Étoiles du Mandé. The Championship side would have also submitted an offer to the young midfielder as the outlet claim his camp have accepted it.
Southampton are working to finalise Tounkara’s signing as soon as possible. The deal, as per the report, is ‘almost sealed’. This is most likely for the summer as the winter market in the UK has already closed.
The outlet state: ‘Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the agreement is now just awaiting official confirmation. According to a source close to the matter, the Malian midfielder is only waiting for administrative documents to join the club in England.’
As of now, He can’t move to England immediately due to post Brexit visa rules relating to football. Tounkara will have to at least wait until he turns 18 in June to join Southampton.