Report: Southampton after Celtic’s Olivier Ntcham after Weston McKennie snub

Southampton are in the hunt for a central midfielder after Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s departure for Tottenham earlier in the summer transfer window.

Weston McKennie was earmarked as a potential replacement, but he chose to join Juventus on loan from Schalke instead. Now, Southampton are reportedly looking at Celtic midfielder Olivier Ntcham.

According to TEAMtalk, Saints are “ready to firm up their interest” in Ntcham as a direct result of the McKennie move falling through.

Celtic were knocked out of the Champions League qualification rounds and are thought to be looking to sell a number of big-name players, including Ntcham and Odsonne Edouard.

Since signing from Premier League giants Manchester City in 2017, Ntcham has scored 23 goals in 123 appearances in all competitions for the Glasgow side.

From 2017-19, the 24-year-old accrued 20 caps for the French Under-21 national side, scoring one goal.

When does the summer transfer window open and close?

The summer transfer window opened on 27 July and closes at 23:00 on 5 October.

A domestic-only window for trades between Premier League and EFL clubs will run from 5 October until 16 October at 17:00.