Saints target Moses as Pochettino eyes winger.
Check in to Transfer Window: Done Deal Alerts
Southampton manager Mauricio Pochettino is hoping to beat Liverpool to the loan signing of Chelsea winger Victor Moses, CaughtOffside understands.
With strong competition ahead of him at Stamford Bridge, Moses looks increasingly unlikely to feature in the first-team plans of Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho this season, and may be allowed to leave the club on loan to play regular football.
The 22-year-old only joined the club last summer, but found opportunities hard to come by under previous managers Roberto Di Matteo and Rafael Benitez last season, and this seems unlikely to change with new boss Mourinho bringing in the likes of Andre Schurrle and Willian to the club, with the possibility of Porto’s Christian Atsu still to come.
Even Juan Mata’s future has come under some doubt after these new arrivals, but it seems more likely that Mourinho will look to offload Moses if possible, with Liverpool believed to be admirers of the Nigerian international.
Reds manager Brendan Rodgers has been in the market for a new winger for much of the summer, having cleared out the under-performing Stewart Downing and Oussama Assaidi, as well as losing out to Chelsea for the signings of Willian and Atsu.
Rodgers signed Daniel Sturridge from Chelsea in January and has revived the young striker’s career at Anfield, and the North Irishman will be confident of doing the same with Moses should he succeed in bringing him in.
However, Chelsea will be keen to avoid strengthening a potential rival again, and may be happy to see Moses go to Southampton instead, with Saints boss Pochettino also chasing a winger before the end of the summer transfer window.
Having loaned Jason Puncheon to newly-promoted Crystal Palace, Southampton are lacking depth in the wide areas, and were recently linked with Manchester City’s Scott Sinclair as a player to provide the ammunition for new striker signing Pablo Osvaldo.
Sinclair, though, ended up joining West Brom on loan from the Etihad Stadium, and Moses now seems like the best option available to Southampton as they look to establish themselves in the Premier League in their second season since promotion from the Championship.
Pochettino has already brought in top talent in Dejan Lovren and Victor Wanyama, as well as record signing Osvaldo, and Moses may be tempted by the project growing at the St Mary’s Stadium.
However, the former Wigan man will be disappointed not to have made more of an impression at Chelsea, having being tipped for big things in the game after first breaking through as a youngster at Crystal Palace.