Southampton lodge bid for Wesley Hoedt as Liverpool and Chelsea track Saints centre-backs

Southampton have submitted a £15.5million bid for Lazio centre-back Wesley Hoedt, according to reports in Italy.

Chelsea and Liverpool fans will be interested in the news with both sides chasing defenders at Southampton.

Virgil van Dijk has been linked with a move to both clubs while Chelsea are closing in on the £15million transfer of Cedric Soares.

Antonio Conte is desperate to strengthen his squad and has identified Soares and Van Dijk as potential additions to his defence.

Southampton have flat out refused to sell Van Dijk and are reportedly determined to make sure the Netherlands international does not sign for Liverpool.

But, Gianluca Di Marizo.com claim the Saints have moved to bring in centre-back reinforcements by lodging a bid for Hoedt.

Southampton submitted the bid on Tuesday night and are awaiting a reply from Lazio.

However, it looks like the deal is on it’s way to completion with the Saints meeting the asking price for Hoedt that was set by his club earlier in the summer.

Hoedt watched from the bench over the weekend as Lazio pulled off a stunning victory over Juventus in the Italian Super Cup.

Lazio snatched a 3-2 win in the 93rd minute to claim the cup and beat the reigning Italian champions.

Hoedt may have started the new campaign on the bench, but he was a regular for Lazio in the second half of the season.

Having spent the first half of the campaign coming in and out of the starting eleven, the 23-year-old finally became a nailed on starter at the end of January.

Hoedt has also broken into the Netherlands side and is considered a future star of the team.

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