Report: Chelsea youngster Dynel Simeu set to complete free transfer to Southampton

Southampton is a club that’s on the hunt for defensive reinforcements and it looks like they could be set to sign another defender after completing Romain Perraud’s transfer earlier in July.

According to respected football journalist Fabrizio Romano, young Chelsea centre-back Dynel Simeu has rejected a new contract with his club in favour of joining Southampton on a free transfer.

It’s been reported that Chelsea will receive a fee of £1.5million from Saints despite Simeu’s contract with the Blues expiring at the end of June.

Aged 19, Simeu has not made a first-team appearance for Chelsea but reportedly impressed in his 19 appearances for the club’s under-23 side last season.

The centre-back captained that young Chelsea side on many occasions in that 2020-21 campaign and was named a substitute for a Champions League game while under Frank Lampard’s management. He is also said to have been regularly training with the Chelsea first team last season.

According to Football London, Simeu was born in Cameroon but grew up in Southampton so this would be a homecoming of sorts for the young centre-half.

“I came from a Sunday league team in Southampton and with my background I didn’t know many footballers and didn’t even know how Chelsea Academy worked, I thought playing here was unrealistic,” he told Chelsea’s media team in an interview earlier in 2020.

“I admired Portsmouth and Southampton because that’s all I knew, I always dreamed of becoming a footballer but my family and I never thought it was realistic, then when I got the chance everything happened quickly and it was unbelievable.”

The signing of Sineu could be welcome as the future of Saints’ Danish defender Jannik Vestergaard continues to be unclear.

In recent times, Vestergaard has been linked with a transfer to a number of clubs, including Leicester City and Tottenham Hotspur.