Southampton are reportedly set to enter talks with Tottenham over a deal to sign defender Kyle Walker-Peters on a permanent deal in the summer.
According to Football Insider, Southampton are ready to discuss a permanent deal with Spurs, little more than a month after signing him on loan until the end of the season.
The report claims that Ralph Hasenhuttl has been impressed with Walker-Peters in training and is keen to keep him at the club.
READ SOUTHAMPTON VERDICT
This does appear to be a strange decision by the Saints, given how Walker-Peters has only played 62 minutes of football for Southampton since joining the club. He started against Burnley but looked rusty, recording a poor WhoScored rating of 6.48 as Southampton lost 2-1 at St. Mary’s.
Despite this, Southampton are already looking to sign him permanently, with Tottenham reportedly wanting £15m. For that price, Southampton could be better off waiting until he has played a few more games for the club to see if he is able to produce consistently and show he has the quality to compete at this level.
This means that Southampton could avoid making an expensive mistake, as they could tie up a £15m deal for Walker-Peters and then find out that he does not have the quality to be the club’s first-choice right-back going forward. It is good that Hasenhuttl has been impressed with him in training, but Walker-Peters now needs to back that up by performing on the pitch in the Premier League.
