Soccer Football - Premier League - Fulham v Southampton - Craven Cottage, London, Britain - December 31, 2022 Southampton manager Nathan Jones REUTERS/David Klein EDITORIAL USE ONLY. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 75 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club /league/player publications. Please contact your account representative for further details.
Fabrizio Romano has claimed that Southampton are ‘tracking’ Lecce midfielder Morten Hjulmand this month.
The Lowdown: Saints face Premier League competition
Journalist Rudy Galetti has reported that other Premier League sides are competing with Nathan Jones’ side for the Danish midfielder’s signature, the clubs in question are Nottingham Forest and Leeds United.
Hjulmand has played 18 Serie A matches for Lecce and has put in from the start on every occasion, he’s clearly someone that manager Marco Baroni trusts as he averages 85 minutes per game.
The 23-year-old tends to operate as a defensive midfielder so in this instance, we’ll compare him to the Saints’ Ibrahima Diallo who naturally plays in that role.
Diallo averages a tackle and 0.4 interceptions per Premier League game, Hjulmand trumps the Frenchman pretty impressively with 2.6 tackles and 2.1 interceptions per league game.
The Latest: Saints tracking Hjulmand
Speaking to GiveMeSport, Romano claims that the Saints asking Lecce for more information on the player who has been a surprise star in Serie A this season.
He stated, “[He is] probably one of the surprises we have here in Serie A this season. They’re following him, they’re tracking him and they’re asking for information to Lecce about the price tag of Hjulmand.”
The Verdict: Hjulmand could be one to watch
We believe that the 23-year-old could be a player to keep an eye on, as he boasts some impressive stats from the last calendar year.
When compared to other midfielders he ranks in the top 11% for assists, he also has strong defensive capabilities featuring in the top 3% for tackles and the top 6% for inceptions made across Europe’s top leagues and competitions (FBref). The fact that he ranks highly for tackles certainly fits into the Leeds mould as they’ve made the most tackles of any team in the Premier League this season. As well as this, the Whites’ most influential player in terms of assists has been Jack Harrison who sits on four, so getting another creative player into the side can only help things.
Also the midfielder captains the Serie A side, clearly the club and the players must see him as an influential player on and off the pitch to give him such a duty.
So it’s no wonder there are a number of suitors after the Lecce man as well as Jones’ side from the south coast.
About the Author
