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Moussa Djenepo: Profile on the Standard Liege star set to join Southampton and has been lauded by Belgium legend Michel Preud’homme

Southampton will make the 20-year-old their first summer signing after seeing off competition from AC Milan

Standard Liege winger Moussa Djenepo is set to be Southampton's first summer signing after enjoying a breakthrough season in the Belgian League.

Ralph Hasenhuttl wants to sign up to three new attacking players this summer and the 20-year-old will head to the south coast for a fee believed to be in the region of £14million.

 Moussa Djenepo will join Southampton
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Moussa Djenepo will join SouthamptonCredit: getty

The Mali international, who has eight caps for his country will have a medical on Wednesday after the two clubs finalised personal terms.

Djenepo was excellent last campaign, playing 39 times, scoring 11 goals and creating a further six.

Below talkSPORT.com gives an in-depth insight into all you need to know about Djenepo...

Moussa Djenepo - 2018/19

Age: 20

Club: Standard Liege

Position: winger/forward

Nationality: Mali

All competition appearances: 39

All competition goals: 11

All competition assists: 6

What’s the gossip?

Djenepo caught the eye of Southampton after starring in the Europa League and domestic competitions.

Ralph Hasenhuttl's side are closing in on completing his transfer and if they conclude the deal they will have beaten off competition from Serie A giants AC Milan, who were also keen on the attacker.

Club career so far?

Having begun his youth career at Yeelen Olympique, Djenepo then moved to Liege on loan in January 2017, before making his move a permanent one in May that year.

In March 2018, he played as Liege beat Genk 1-0 to win the Belgian Cup Final and thus qualify for the Europa League.

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Credit: mail

The Mali international had an impressive season for Liege

This last season has seen Djenepo really impress with manager and Belgium legend Michel Preud'homme backing him to reach an elite level.

He said after a match with Oostende: "[He has] a profile that I like, with speed, mentality and quality. He is evolving quickly and still has a large margin of evolution. But if you have a good mentality, you can also grow faster. "

Team-mate


How much is he likely to cost?

Sport Mediaset had reported that his fee when linked to AC Milan was around 8 million Euro (around £7million), but Southampton are said to have agreed a £14million deal - not quite enough to beat Marouane Fellaini's club-record sale from Standard Liege to Everton.

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International experience?

The 20-year-old represented Mali Under-20 at the Africa U-20 Cup of Nations in 2017 and won three caps before being called up to the senior squad in the same year.

He has gone on to win eight caps and scoring once, against Sudan in March.


How will he fit in to Southampton?

The Saints' attack desperately struggled for goals last season and Nathan Redmond finished as their top scorer with nine and Danny Ings was there highest scoring striker with eight.

Southampton managed to stave off relegation, finishing 16th, but only netted 45 times in the Premier League.

Djenepo is direct, pacy and his 11 goals means he is a capable finisher and would immediately bolster Saints, if he hits his stride early.

He can either engage full-backs on the flanks or move through the middle breaking lines with his superb dribbling, although whether this will translate in the Premier League will be interesting.

 Is this how Southampton will look with Djenepo?
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Is this how Southampton will look with Djenepo?

 

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