According to The Daily Mail, Southampton are to battle fellow Premier League club West Ham United in their attempts to sign Nice defender Flavius Daniliuc.

The Lowdown: Saints boost defence

The Saints are preparing for the new campaign - they are now just ten days away from their season opener with Everton on Saturday 14 August 14.

So far, they have made three new signings - two of them, in Romain Perraud (southamptonfc.com) and Danyl Simeu (chelseafc.com), are natural defenders; while the other, Valentin Livramento, has played regularly at right-back at youth level.

The Latest: Saints eye Daniliuc

It now seems that the Saints are looking to bring in another defender in £5.4m-valued Nice centre-back Daniliuc (Transfermarkt).

With plenty of competition for places at Les Aiglons, he could be allowed to leave the French club this summer.

The Verdict: Right area to target

Even at the age of just 20, Daniliuc has already been on the books of European giants such as Bayern Munich and Real Madrid (Transfermarkt). Last season, he made 26 appearances in all competitions for Nice (Transfermarkt), showing his talent and ability. He also has five Austria under-21 caps to his name.

In 2020/21, Southampton conceded 68 goals in the Premier League (Sky Sports). Only relegated West Bromwich Albion, with 76 goals shipped, had a worse record. The Saints have already looked to sort out that problem at the back this summer, and they seem willing to bring in even more reinforcements in that area of the pitch if they are going after Daniliuc having already signed several new defenders.

In other news, many Southampton fans are delighted with this new arrival.