Premier League side Southampton are reportedly keeping tabs on former Portugal Under-21s defender Jorge Fernandes, who currently plies his trade with Vitoria Guimaraes.
Southampton are one of the clubs after Fernandes
The Daily Mail recently reported that the Saints are one of the clubs who are monitoring the situation of the 23-year-old central defender. Steve Bruce’s Newcastle United and Scott Parker’s Fulham are also monitoring the Vitoria star.
Would Fernandes be a potential replacement for Vestergaard?
Yes
No
The report describes Fernandes as a ball-playing centre-back. He joined Vitoria for a fee of £720,000 but he is now being valued at around £16million by his current club. It has been stated that Premier League clubs believe that players like Fernandes can become assets in the long-term and as such, a lot of top-flight sides could be looking to sign defenders in the January transfer window.
Fernandes could be a handy addition for Southampton
Fernandes has made seven league appearances in the Portuguese league this season, winning two aerial duels per game, making 1.7 interceptions per game too. The defender has also won 1.7 tackles per game for Vitoria during this campaign. As a result of his performances, Fernandes has picked up an overall rating of 6.83 in the league so far (as per Whoscored).
This suggests that Fernandes can be a handy defender. As things stand, Southampton have a total of four centre-back options – Jannick Vestergaard, Jack Stephens, Mohammed Salisu and Jan Bednarek. Vestergaard has previously been linked with a move to Leicester City.
So if Leicester do come calling for the Danish defender at some point in the future, signing Fernandes might be a good option for the Saints.
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