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According to Noticias de Gipuzkoa, Southampton remain keen on Bordeaux’s Francois Kamano, with Ralph Hasenhuttl evidently looking to bolster his attacking options ahead of next season.
The Ligue 1 outfit will be battening down the hatches in the summer as they expect to receive a number of approaches for their £12.6m rated star man, with Real Sociedad, Atletico Madrid and Monaco joining the Saints in the hunt.
Who is the 22-year-old rescuing Les Girondins’ season, then? Continue reading our scout report to find out what he’s done already this campaign and what he could bring to Southampton.
What has he done this season?
The versatile winger has chalked up 12 goals and 4 assists from 44 appearances in all competitions this campaign and is capably replacing Malcom, who departed for Barcelona in the summer after a similarly impressive 2017/18.
While this term hasn’t gone so well for the Brazilian Barca man, Kamano has been impressive – his performances, particularly in 2018, have not gone unnoticed by the bigger clubs.
In fact, the speedster had scored all of his nine league goals this season by 5th December – he notched from the spot against St Etienne on that day.
The highlight of his season so far is surely his performance in the 2-1 win over Monaco, who are now linked with him, in August 2018 – the former SC Bastia man netted both of his side’s goals in that game, scoring the winner in the 92nd minute, and achieved a match rating of 8.73 from WhoScored.
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He followed up this brace with goals against Guingamp and Lille and then struck twice again in a comfortable 3-0 win over Nantes.
What will he bring and what must he improve?
Clearly the electric winger has a goal in him and the nerve to succeed in the biggest league in the world – he is a solid penalty taker and the aforementioned late goal against Monaco is proof of his ability to deliver in crucial moments. This late strike wasn’t a fluke, though, it was his fourth goal beyond the 86th minute in his career in France.
The fact that he has only once netted since early December is a concern though, as is the singular league assist to his name. Southampton are well familiar with players who can enjoy short spells of glory but then completely vanish – see Manolo Gabbiadini.
He might have to work on his crossing ability if he were to strike up a partnership with Charlie Austin or Danny Ings, too – both thrive on good deliveries into the box.
One thing he certainly will bring to St Mary’s Stadium, though, is raw pace and that is somewhat of a commodity in Hasenhuttl’s side – Nathan Redmond and Josh Sims are the only players capable of stretching a defence. What do you think, Southampton fans? Would you like to see Kamano in red and white? Let us know in the comments below.