Southampton: 'Special' England U19 star could 'definitely' arrive at St Mary's

Southampton target Liam Delap would ‘definitely’ fit the profile that manager Ralph Hasenhuttl likes to go for, according to The Sun journalist Tom Barclay.

The highly-rated 19-year-old has been linked with a move away from Manchester City in recent weeks as he looks for regular first-team opportunities to further his development.

Last summer, Southampton raided Chelsea’s academy, signing Tino Livramento and Dynel Simeu on permanent deals while bringing in Armando Broja on a temporary basis.

And the south coast club have been tipped to try and pull off a similar trick by tempting Delap and City teammate Gavin Bazunu to St. Mary’s in either loan or permanent transfers.

According to The Sun, the young striker and goalkeeper are on the Saints’ shortlist as they look to replace veterans Shane Long and Fraser Forster, who are set to depart as free agents.

The likes of Nathan Redmond, Theo Walcott and Moussa Djenepo could also follow the experienced duo out of the Southampton exit door as their existing deals are due to expire in the summer of 2023.

It could be a busy window for Hasenhuttl, therefore, and he may decide to stick with a tried and tested method in order to improve his squad on a limited budget.

Barclay believes Delap, who was born in Winchester, is someone who could certainly fit into Hasenhuttl’s plans at Southampton and can see parallels in Southampton’s interest to their successful raids of Chelsea’s youngsters.

He told GiveMeSport: “Yeah, definitely. They’ve targeted Chelsea’s academy in recent history with great success, with obviously Livramento being the standout one, Broja as well.

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“Dynel Simeu, who went on loan to Carlisleand did