Southampton have emerged as the ‘most likely’ club to sign a promising international defender who has impressed in the Netherlands.
Southampton have had a solid start to the summer transfer window, securing the permanent signing of Taylor Harwood-Bellis and Adam Lallana on a free ahead of the club’s Premier League return.
Manager Russell Martin knows there is still plenty of work to do to get his squad ready for the top flight, though, and will be working alongside the Southampton hierarchy to identify targets.
Brentford’s Saman Ghoddos is expected to sign for the Saints when his contract expires at the end of the month, whilst Ryan Fraser is working on a Newcastle United exit that could also see him available to join the club for free.
Now, it seems Southampton have turned their attention to a versatile full-back who will improve their options next season.
Southampton targeting Yukinari Sugawara signing
Southampton currently have Kyle Walker-Peters, James Bree and Ryan Manning as senior full-backs in the squad.
Walker-Peters is constantly linked with a move away but the Saints’ promotion could see the twice-capped England right-back remain at St Mary’s.
There are question marks over the ability of both Bree and Manning to make the step up the Premier League however, and it is for that reason Martin appears to want to strengthen the position.
That could be set to happen, with Japanese outlet Sponichi claiming that Southampton are in pole position to sign Japan right-back Yukinari Sugawara , also known as ‘Yusei’, from AZ Alkmaar this summer.
According to Sponichi Soccer on ‘X’: ‘Japan national team defender Sugawara Yusei is most likely to transfer to Southampton, another Moriyasu Japan player to join the world’s strongest league.’
The Saints are not alone in their interest in the 23-year-old, with Inter Milan reportedly considering Sugawara as an option to replace Denzel Dumfries should the Netherland’s defender leave this summer.
However, Southampton look most likely to sign Sugawara and the fact he only has one year left on his AZ Alkmaar contract means he should be available for around £8.5 million according to One Football.
Sugawara similar profile to former Real Madrid icon Marcelo
Sugawara is a versatile full-back who can also play as a right midfielder and centre-back which may be one of the reasons he is so appealing to Southampton.
He became the second youngest player to ever play in the Japanese top flight as a 17-year-old, as well as the youngest to ever sign a professional contract at Nagoya Grampus; the club for whom Gary Lineker briefly represented at the end of his career.
Sugawara moved to Dutch club AZ Alkmaar in 2019; on loan initially before signing permanently.
That is where he has remained ever since, amassing 198 appearances and recording an impressive 14 goals and 29 assists.
Sugawara also holds the impressive record of being the player with the most appearances in continental competition in AZ Alkmaar’s history with 53 appearances across Champions League qualification, the Europa League and the Europa Conference League.
Despite being a right-back, football data website FBREF identifies former Real Madrid and Brazil left-back Marcelo as the closest statistical match to Sugawara.
An incredibly attack-minded full-back, Sugawara ranks amongst the top ten for players in his position for shots per 90 minutes, assists, expected assists, non-penalty expected goals plus expected assists and shot-creating actions.
This demonstrates that Southampton fans can be excited about a player who will look to get forward at every opportunity and could thrive in Martin’s side.
Having made his international debut in October 2020, Sugawara has become a regular for Japan and has played 13 times for his country.
If he is to sign, Sugawara would become Southampton’s second Japanese signing of the summer with a pre-contract agreement confirmed for 17-year-old attacker Rento Takaoka who will join when he turns 18 in March.