According to media reports in Italy, Napoli have Southampton in their sights as they assess their transfer targets in the summer, so will it be arrivederci from one of our defensive stalwarts.
According to Italian sports daily Gazzetta dello Sport, Southampton central defender Jan Bednarek is on Napoli’s transfer radar ahead of the summer window.
The Gli Azzurri currently lie 3rd in Serie A this season, but are 7 points behind AC Milan with only 3 games to go, they are guaranteed a top 4 finish and next season are looking to go a little better.
They are currently renewing contracts of those players they want to keep, including current central defender Kalidou Koulibaly, but are looking to give themselves other options.
According to Italian daily Gazzetta dello Sport Napoli sporting director Cristiano Giuntoli is in the process of compiling a list of potential transfer targets and Jan Bednarek is on that list.
The Polish player is still under contract for another 3 years, so Saints are in no rush to sell and could command a decent fee if he was to go.
There is some speculation surrounding Bednarek's future at St Mary's after Ralph Hasenhuttl intimated that he had had to leave Bednarek out of the FA Cup game against Manchester City because the players head was not in the right place.
This was strange, because things like this are usually kept in house, but the Austrian manager was clearly not happy with the situation.
Although he has been a mainstay of the side now for the last four seasons, this season has perhaps not been as good as the previous ones, could Saints as part of the new strategy going to be fine tuned under Sports Republik, be looking to offload him at a high price with a replacement already lined up.
This we will find out in the next few weeks, certainly if Bednarek stayed it would not be a disappointment, but if he were to go then he would not be as big a miss as when some those now Ex Saints in the central defensive position left.