Southampton on the verge of sealing £10m deal for Armel Bella-Kotchap with the Germany U21 defender set to become Ralph Hasenhuttl’s third signing of the summer in the next 48 hours
- Southampton are closing in on a deal for VFL Bochum’s Armel Bella-Kotchap
- The 20-year-old is poised to become Saints’ third summer signing this week
- Bella-Kotchap has made 73 appearances for Bochum and nine for Germany U21s
Southampton are closing in on a deal for highly-rated Germany under-21 defender Armel Bella-Kotchap.
VFL Bochum centre-back Bella-Kotchap is on the verge of becoming Southampton’s third summer signing, with the club hoping to finalise his signing for a fee in the region of £10m in the next 48 hours.
The 20-year-old is a product of Bochum’s academy, earning his first professional contract in March 2019 at the age of 17 and going on to make his professional debut one month later.
Southampton are closing in on a deal for Germany U21 defender Armel Bella-Kotchap (right)
Since then he has featured another 73 times for the German outfit, helping them secure promotion to the Bundesliga in 2021.
Despite being born in Paris, Bella-Kotchap opted to represent Germany at international level after moving to the country at an early age.
He started out with the under-18 team in 2018 before eventually working his way up to the under-21s, where he has made nine appearances over the past year.
Southampton are understood to have beaten other Premier League teams and Bundesliga clubs to the 6ft 2in defender – who played 22 times in Germany’s top flight last term.
Bella-Kotchap is set to become Ralph Hasenhuttl’s third summer recruit at St Mary’s, following goalkeepers Gavin Bazunu and Mateusz Lis to the south coast.
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