It is being reported that Southampton are set to confirm the signing of Victor Wanyama from Celtic in a £12.5million deal by the end of this week.
Talks initially stalled last month due to Southampton not being prepared to pay the amount requested for Agent Fees. However the Saints have remained interested in the 22-year-old Kenyan and talks have accelerated in recent days, paving the way for the signing to be completed within the next 48 hours, providing no more issues arise in that time.
Although neither side have officially confirmed the deal, the Football Kenya Federation have already congratulated Wanyama for “making history” by signing for Southampton. The KFA website goes on to say “As a federation, we are extremely thrilled with this move by Victor,” This is further evidence to suggest that the completion of the deal is imminent”.
Celtic played a friendly match on Tuesday against German opposition Greuther Fruth in which Wanyama was due to feature. It is understood that he didn’t play however and instead stayed at the team hotel in Berlin to help complete his move to the south coast outfit.
If the transfer is completed, it would be a record sale for Celtic with the £12.5million surpassing the £11m they received from Aiden McGeady when he made his move to Russian side Spartak Moscow in 2010. The sale would bring Celtic a profit of around £11.5m, after only paying £900,000 for Wanyama from Beerschot.
It will be a very exciting transfer window for Southampton fans, with signings of this calibre showing their ambition to succeed in the Premier League. Along with Wanyama, Southampton manager Mauricio Pochettino also confirmed last week that they were interested in big names Leandro Damião and Eva Banega.