Southampton FC closing in on Liverpool FC target Gaston Ramirez in €14m deal

Bologna winger Gaston Ramirez, who has been linked with Liverpool and Southampton, looks set to to join the newly-promoted Saints this week.

Liverpool had been seen as favourites to sign Ramirez for some time after he recently rejected a move to Tottenham, but last week, a surprise move to Southampton looked likely after they tabled a bid for the Uruguay international.

Bologna president Albano Guaraldi later insisted that the Saints’ ambitious bid for the 21-year-old had not been accepted, and Ramirez’s agent, Pablo Betancourt, on Thursday said negotiations with the south coast club had ended.

However according to reports in Italy on Monday afternoon, Southampton have now reached an agreement with the Serie A side, with Ramirez set to move to St Mary’s for a fee of €14million.

A deal looked to have fallen through as a result of the two clubs being unable to agree on how the fee would be paid, but it is believed Southampton will pay 70 per cent up front.

Ramirez is expected to fly to England in the next 24 hours to discuss personal terms and undergo a medical before finalising his move.

Guaraldi had said at the weekend that Ramirez was prepared to go on strike in a bid to force through a move.

The forward was left out of the side that lost 2-0 to Chievo Verona at the weekend, with coach Stefano Pioli saying Ramirez’s “head isn’t in the game.”