Premier League club Southampton is interested in signing Thomas Delaney from Borussia Dortmund. This development is according to ESPN.
Delaney made his move to Dortmund in the summer of 2018 from Werder Bremen. His contract with Dortmund is till 2022. This means that Dortmund would be willing to let him go this season rather than seeing him leave on a free transfer. Southampton is currently the only club that has shown interest in signing him.
The defensive midfielder has not been able to cement his position in the Dortmund squad. While he stated his desire to stay and fight for his place in the squad, his time in the Signal Iduna Park will depend on the incoming manager Marco Rose. Subsequently, Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl is interested in signing Delaney for his club.
END FOR DELANEY TIME AT DORTMUND?
Delaney is a good defensive midfielder, who is strong with his challenges. He is excellent in his defensive outputs and is an aerial threat. But the Danish international is not a regular for Dortmund and has missed multiple matches through injury.
The 29-year-old was able to come back into the Dortmund side after the injury to Axel Witzel. Even then he is behind Emre Can, Jude Bellingham, and Mahmoud Dahoud in the pecking order. This is evident from the minutes he has played this season. Delaney made only 34 appearances for Dortmund in all competition this season.
This is a far cry from his first season with Dortmund, where he appeared in 30 matches in the Bundesliga alone. Delaney in 3 full seasons with the Black and Yellows has played 86 times for them in all competitions. He scored 4 goals during this period playing in defensive and central midfield positions.
THE ENGLISH SWITCH
The contract situation for Delaney meant that Dortmund could be ready to sell him. The club will only interest in any move for a fee of €10 million.
Meanwhile, Southampton lost Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg after his move to Tottenham last summer. The Saints have James Ward-Prowse, Ibrahim Diallo, Oriol Romeu, and Stuart Armstrong in the center of midfield alongside Mario Lemina who will return after his loan spell at Fulham.
This means that the club has enough resources in the middle and Delaney could be surplus to requirement. But the drop in quality has been massive as Southampton was never able to replace the dynamic Hojbjerg. Therefore bringing in another Denmark international in the form of Delaney could fix the issue.
