Southampton to terminate loan with Ben Johnson arrival from West Ham United now lined up for January transfer window
Southampton want to sign West Ham United defender Ben Johnson in January as they prepare to terminate Mason Holgate’s loan, according to Darren Witcoop.
Writing on his personal Twitter account (14 December), the journalist reports that the Saints are ready to cut short their loan deal with Everton defender Holgate, and want to pursue Johnson in January as a replacement.
Johnson is out of favour at the London Stadium and is out of contract in the summer, so a January exit could be on the cards to boost the bank balance for David Moyes.
“Southampton remain keen on West Ham defender Ben Johnson,” he wrote.
“With Saints ready to cut short Mason Holgate’s loan spell, Johnson could be on the move next month. Johnson, who offerers versatility across the back line, was on Saints’ radar in summer.”
Sensible
Vladimir Coufal and Emerson Palmieri have established themselves as the number one full-back options at the club and the contract dispute between Johnson and West Ham has been going on for a while now.
It’s clear that he is asking for too much and an agreement isn’t going to be found between them, so a January exit is the last chance for the Hammers to get some extra cash in for him.
Southampton may look to do a loan deal instead, but that wouldn’t benefit the team in any way and if Thilo Kehrer is approached about an exit too then surely only one of th em will be allowed to move on.
West Ham need money before they can sign anyone and that is likely to be the driving force behind the final decision, but with Southampton showing strong interest and relations between the clubs good after deals for James Ward-Prowse and Flynn Downes recently then it’s possible that this could happen.
In other West Ham news, club could be set to receive January windfall with player set for Premier League transfer.