Michael Obafemi is closer to a £6million move to Blackburn Rovers as Adam Armstrong heads to Southampton from Ewood Park in a record-breaking deal.
Obafemi is under contract with the Saints until the end of this season but due to injury and loss of form he has been unable to establish himself at Southampton, making just four Premier League appearances as sub last season.
Manager Ralf Hassenhuttl has expressed his admiration for the Dublin native as a player but he is also on record as being frustrated with Obafemi’s attitude at times.
And while Obafemi started for the Saints up front, alongside Shane Long, in a pre-season friendly last weekend, he has been told by Hassenhuttl that he can leave.
It was suggested that Obafemi would be included as part of the £20m transfer for Armstrong to Southampton but that deal should go through in the next 24 hours, with talks over Obafemi separate from the Armstrong deal.
A move away from Southampton could also help to kick-start Obafemi’s international career. Born in Dublin but raised in England, he made his senior debut away to Denmark in 2018, in Martin O’Neill’s last game, but has not featured for the seniors since then, his most recent outing in a green shirt at U21 level, away to Luxembourg last November.
“It’s something that’s been mooted, those sort of things become personal to the point the boy wants to make that move, his advisors have to see it as an opportunity,” Blackburn manager Tony Mowbray said of Obafemi.
“If it’s one he sees as a good chance for him to play more regular football at a level he sees himself doing similar things to Adam and build his reputation.
“It’s something we’re exploring but I won’t sit here and say that anything is happening, we will see in the next couple of days if anything materialises.“I was aware of him making his debut, he made quite a bit of noise a couple of years ago.
“I have studied him a lot recently and I see similarities with Adam, he’s mobile, fast, can score, he’s a young boy but we use attributes to help the team play in a certain way.
“He has the attributes that will help our team but it’s not something we should be saying is a done deal as I’ve not personally spoken to the player so let’s see what the next few days bring. Until this deal goes through, the men in suits will do the numbers and then I’ll find out what the scope is.”