Juventus Central Defender Linked With Move To St Mary's
Saints appear to have contingency plans in mind if their first choice central defensive target is not landed quickly.
If Saints cannot bring Toby Alderweireld back to St art's then they have several other options in their radar, several of them have been reported before including Celtic's Virgil Van Dink, however a new name has emerged and that is Juventus's Angelo Ogbonna.
Ogbonna who turned 27 in May has been at Juventus for two seasons after signing from Turin rivals Torino, however he has struggled to make an impact for Juve since his £10 million arrival, although a series of niggling groin injuries haven't helped.
In his two seasons at the club he has played 41 times in Serie A adding to his 147 appearances for Torino, so he certainly has plenty of experience when you include his 10 caps for Italy at full level.
At 6ft 3 he seems to be a commanding figure in the back four although only 1 goal in his career suggests he doesn't go up for corners much.
Aston Villa and Bologna are also being linked with hi although given that he has said that he wants to play for a club in European competition, neither Villa or newly promoted Bologna will be able to offer that in the coming season and fro that perspective it again puts Saints in the driving seat.
Although Ogbonna or indeed any of the other central defensive targets being linked could be in competition with one another for a move to Saints, that is not to say that we might not sign more than one if the price is right. Saints have the money and are looking to build a squad capable of challenging on four fronts and going forward, that being the case last season at times we struggled when Alderweireld was not in the back four, add to that José Font will be 32 in December, Ronald Koeman will be thinking about the future as well as the present.
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