Southampton were one of the clubs who reportedly made an offer to take AC Milan winger Jens Petter Hauge on loan before the end of the January transfer window, a claim which has since been rebuffed.
The Saints were believed to be keen on taking the 21-year-old Norwegian, as were Bundesliga duo Bayer Leverkusen and Stuttgart, with all three clubs having offers rejected.
However, Norwegian publication VG have looked into to the interest in the winger and reported that the Serie A side had ‘not received any bids’ for Hauge. An unnamed source told the media outlet: ”It’s because he’s not on the market. If we had been open to loaning him, the clubs would have been in line.”
Hauge’s unavailability should come as no surprise. Despite his tender years and relative inexperience, the Norway international has played a major part in Milan’s thriving season thus far,directly contributing to 10 goals in 21 appearances in all competitions for the Serie A leaders.
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A left-footed winger who can play across the frontline, signing the Norway youngster would have been a smart piece of business from the Saints, with the squad currently looking threadbare, to put it kindly.
With players returning from injury and the loan arrival of Takumi Minamino from Liverpool, the situation should slowly start to improve in the coming days.
However, Hauge would still have been a major coup for Ralph Hasenhuttl‘s side.
