Southampton are lining up a move for Monaco striker Valere Germain.
The Saints are on the hunt for a new forward during the January transfer window to cope with the loss of Charlie Austin.
The former QPR man is out injured with a shoulder injury he picked up in December and he may not return for another three months.
That has forced Southampton to look at bringing in attacking reinforcements and, according to L’Equipe, they are keeping tabs on Germain.
Saints boss Claude Puel knows the 26-year-old well after working with him at Nice last season during the striker’s loan spell there.
Germain has around 18 months to run on his current contract and, as he has not been offered an extension, Monaco may consider letting him go for the right price.
Jurgen Klopp was disappointed with Liverpool’s reaction to Southampton’s winning goal in the EFL Cup semi-final first leg on Wednesday night.
The Reds started brightly at St Mary’s but fell away after Nathan Redmond’s first-half strike earned the Saints a 1-0 victory.
Liverpool are lucky to still be in the tie after Redmond saw a shot come back off the bar, and Klopp insisted his side should have been more positive after conceding.
Karius told Liverpool’s website: “He said after the first goal we should have shown a different reaction because it’s a cup game and one goal is really nothing.
“After the first goal is when they really came at us, and [he said] we should have been stronger and more positive.”
The Reds had Karius to thank for keeping the score down as he produced a string of saves to keep the Saints at bay.
The German keeper added: "I wish I could have kept the other one out as well when they scored! I tried to be there when the team needed me, but of course all in all we’re really disappointed.
“We came here to win the first game, but now [the result] makes life a little more difficult. We’re still confident we can turn it around.”
CHARLIE Austin has slammed as “outrageous” and a “shambles” the latest plight surrounding his former club Poole Town’s ground.
The Dolphins are facing the prospect of being relegated from the National League South unless they can find £70,000 to get their Tatnam headquarters up to scratch, writes Neil Perrett.
Austin, who made his name at the non-League club, hit out on Twitter by asking: “How can the top people let this happen?”
Although the Southampton striker did not expand on who his post had been aimed at, a follow-up tweet made clear it had not been directed at any club official.
Responding to a post which urged him to “chuck a few quid in” to help Poole, Austin made reference to the fact his sale had helped fund previous improvements at Tatnam and added: “Love the club and everyone involved, I’ve done my bit."
Austin bagged 64 goals in 57 appearances in the Wessex League for the Dolphins, his exploits earning him a move to the Football League with Swindon Town in 2009.
He then joined Burnley in a £1.2million transfer in 2012 before being snapped up by Southampton in a bargain £4million switch 12 months ago.
A Poole Town tweet read: “Much appreciated Charlie. The Swindon money paid for the last significant upgrade and allowed promotion to the Conf.”
A solitary strike from Nathan Redmond proved the difference between the two sides, as Saints got back to winning ways with a performance full of desire and determination.
Romeu reflected: “It was very good. We were coming from a difficult moment and we know that in a season there will be ups and downs but we wanted to come back stronger.
“It was a great performance from the team, all together working hard for 90 minutes and it’s good to have this kind of performance back. We need to keep building on this.
“We had a clean sheet against one of the best offensive teams in this country so it’s very good and it’s not all about what we’ve done today, now we need to keep going and doing the same.”
Looking ahead to the second leg at Anfield, Romeu added: “It’s going to be tough. It’s a lovely stadium and they’re going to push but we have to be ready.
“We know it’s one step to get there, to play a final for this club which would be amazing for us, for the fans, for everyone.
HOW will the final Premier League table look? A new report by football-observatory.com may have the answer.
Footy data site footballobservatory.com have been hard at work over the past month or so, attempting to predict the champions of each of Europe’s big leagues.
They analysed a variety of offensive and defensive factors for every single team in the top five European leagues over the past five seasons to help their predictions.
They also considered each side’s ‘grip’ on a game - how well they keep hold of the ball and how offensive and successful their passing is.
After taking into account all of these factors, the statisticians were able to predict the final points totals for each Premier League side.
So how many points could your side rack up? And who will be crowned champions?
Click through the gallery above to see footballobservatory.com’s predicted final Premier League table.
| Mark Uth confirms Saints interest | Hoffenheim attacker Mark Uth has confirmed that Southampton have shown some interest in him. Speaking to German … 12-01-2017 |
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