Southampton are pushing to sign Marseille defender Duje Caleta-Car amid interest from Aston Villa

Southampton are pushing to sign Marseille defender Duje Caleta-Car ahead of competition from Aston Villa.

The 25-year-old Croatia international is flying to England this morning with Southampton eager to land a quality centre-back.

They are looking to offload Jan Bednarek with West Ham waiting in the wings for the Poland international.

Southampton had also held talks with Rennes for defender Loic Bade but he is now talking to Nottingham Forest.

Southampton have agreed to loan Jack Stephens to Bournemouth.

Caleta-Car was previously a target for West Ham but turned them down as he waited for a Champions League club. 

Defenders Jan Bednarek and Jack Stephens are both set to depart Southampton on Thursday

Ralph Hasenhuttl still has plenty of work to do during the final hours of the transfer window

He almost joined Liverpool last year but Marseille blocked the move as they couldn’t source a replacement in time.

The centre-back joined Marseille in 2018 for £16m from RB Leipzig and has gone on to make 130 appearances for the club, scoring five times.

He appeared 38 times in all competitions for the French side last year as they finished second in Ligue 1 and reached the semi-finals of the Europa Conference League.  

The centre-back has won 23 caps for Croatia and is expected to be a part of their squad for the World Cup this winter.

Southampton are currently eighth in the Premier League after Tuesday’s 2-1 win over Chelsea.