Saints have lodged a bit with Dutch side Feyenoord for goalkeeper Justin Bijlow according to the latest reports from the Netherlands, so will this be the man who fits the bill for Russell Martin.
Media outlets including givemesport.com have claimed that Southampton have lodged a bid with Feyenoord for their goalkeeper Justin Bijlow.
The 26 year old first broke into the first team at the tail end of 2017/18 season however at times injuries have blighted his career, that being the case last season where two separate injuries meant he played in just half of the Eredivisie games he could have done.
This season has seen him lose his place to Timon Wellenreuther who joined the club last summer from Anderlecht and now Bijlow wants regular first team football to ensure he keeps his place in the Netherland's squad, at Euro 24, he was an unused sub and in total has earned 8 caps in the last 3 years at full international level.
He has 104 appearances in the Eredivisie to his name with Feyenoord and also experience in not just domestic cup competitions, but also the Europa & Champions Leagues.
In January 2024 everybodysoccer.com ranked him at 17th place in the list of best goalkeepers in the World.
In June 2023, Bijlow said that his former goalkeeping team mates Brad Jones and Kenneth Vermeer helped him the most during his career, especially for high balls, saving one-on-one chances and staying calm. Bijlow named leading a defence and a team, saving shots on the goal line and distributing with his feet as his qualities. Jones called Bijlow "determined" and "willing to learn"
That seems just the type of keeper that Saints are looking for and it seems that they have already spoken to Feyenoord and opened negotiations.
It is also reported that:
"Feyenoord scouts are already scouring the market for a potential replacement with the negotiations so concrete, with the Saints willing to pay millions to find an agreement for Bijlow."
It will be interesting to see if this deal is as concrete as the media claim, certainly Feyenoord have started this season with Wellenreuther as first choice and they also have former Manchester City U21 keeper Mikki Van Sas on the books.
Feyenoord are said to have recently received offers from both Arsenal and Atlético Madrid for Bijlow, but both those clubs planned for him to be second choice, whilst he will only move for first team football.
If Saints do land him then the expected transfer fee would be somewhere between the £12 million he is currently valued at and the £15 million he was worth a year ago, his contract at the Rotterdam club has two years left to run so Feyenoord could well look to cash in now.