Southampton’s interest in a deal for Spezia defender Martin Erlic could hamper Kayne Ramsay’s hopes of making the first-team next season.
According to Gazzetta Dello Sport, as translated by Sport Witness, Southampton and Crystal Palace are both scouting Erlic ahead of a potential summer swoop for the Italian centre-back.
The report claims that they believe he has Premier League quality and the paper also likens Erlic to Inter star Milan Skriniar. This is high praise indeed, with Skriniar a regular for Inter at the top end of the Serie A over the last three seasons in Italy.
If Southampton are able to seal a deal for Erlic and bring him to St. Mary’s this summer, it could come as a huge blow to Kayne Ramsay. Whilst the Southampton academy product is a right-back by nature, his chances in the first-team so far have come as a centre-back under Ralph Hasenhuttl. This means that the Austrian boss may think Ramsay’s long-term future is in more of a central role, rather than out wide.
Ramsay is currently on loan to Shrewsbury in League One and due to return to Southampton in the summer. If Erlic is signed ahead of next season, a place in the first-team squad could be even harder to attain for Ramsay. Erlic could just be another obstacle in Ramsay’s path to the first-team, with Jannik Vestergaard, Kevin Danso, Jan Bednarek and Jack Stephens already ahead of him in the pecking order.
