As Southampton face summer departures, they are not sitting back and waiting for them to happen, they are being proactive in identifying their targets, but they face competition from West Ham United and Wolves in the latest link.

According to the72.co.uk the latest target for Southampton is Hibernian midfielder Josh Mulligan.

The 23 year old midfielder is being tracked by Southampton, with the club potentially losing 2 central midfielders in this summer window.

On the face of it Mulligan seems to fit the profile that Saints look for these days, those under the radar who have shown potential, but not quite blossomed, successfully signing the likes of Mateus Fernandes, Leo Scienza & Caspar Jander in the past two years.

Now they are looking to Scotland for Mulligan who signed for Hibernian last summer after excercising his freedom of contract at previous club Dundee, although Hibs still received a development fee due to his age.

At Dundee he had established himself as a Scottish Premiership player and last season at Hibs he started to blossom, even earning a call up for the Scotland squad in October 2025, although he remained on the bench as an unused sub.

Described as having energy & ability to drive forward with the ball, Scottish pundits are saying that after his season in Scotland the Championship would be a natural move for him.

He also fits the Southampton bill with his versatility, not only can he play in the centre of midfield, but also on the right, he has also featured as a right back at times.

But West Ham will surely start as favourites to sign him, they are resigned to losing former Saints player Mateus Fernandes and see Mulligan as the replacement.

His current value is around the £4 million mark, although with Saints, Wolves and of course the Hammers interested it could well push up the price.

All Photos Via Reuters