Tottenham Hotspur defender Kieran Trippier. (Photo : Getty Images)
Southampton is reportedly plotting a £5 million summer swoop for Tottenham Hotspur defender Kieran Trippier as they rekindle their long-standing interest on the English footballer.
The Saints pursued the 25-year-old right back last summer when he was still with recently promoted English Premier League club Burnley FC. However, Trippier rejected Southampton's offer and decided to join Tottenham instead in a £3.5 million transfer move.
The St. Mary's Stadium giants are said to be "confident" that they could pull off the deal this time as the 5-foot-10 Bury, England native was only featured six times in the domestic games last term by Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino, according to the Daily Star.
Meanwhile, newly-appointed Southampton head coach Claude Puel is said to be still looking for a goalkeeper and an attacking defender to finalize his summer plans after taking over from now Everton boss Ronald Koeman, and Trippier seems to be the ideal signing to what the French mentor is looking for in the aforementioned second position.
Trippier scored one goal in his six appearances last season, which suggests that he can also pour in goals despite being in the back line if only he was given the opportunity to be on the pitch for a longer period of time.
Puel had so far snagged winger Nathan Redmond from demoted Premier League side Norwich City and midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg from German Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich. The 54-year-old former OGC Nice boss is allegedly targeting Trippier next for his third signing this summer.
Caught Offside noted that with the Spurs' "depth and quality" in the backfield positions, which currently includes stars Eric Dier, Danny Rose, Toby Alderweireld, Jan Vertonghen, and Kyle Walker, it would not be a big deal for Pochettino to let go of Trippier and make a small profit out of it.
The report also said that expectations are high for Puel to at least duplicate what Koeman had done for the south coast side in the past two seasons. Southampton finished seventh and sixth in the Premier League in the last two terms and Puel will definitely be pressured to perform well in his first ever coaching stint outside of France.
