Prior to the January transfer window, Fulham, a Premier League team, has their eye on Southampton starlet Carlos Alcaraz, but the Cottagers will have to pay a high price for the player.
Alcaraz purchased the St. Mary’s Stadium in January for £12 million from Racing Club, an Argentine team. It was even confirmed that should the player be sold in the future, the Saints would pay his former team a 15 percent sell-on fee.
The young midfielder came to the club at a difficult time as Southampton were relegated within his first half-season. However, Alcaraz was certainly one of the only standout performers during this period, scoring four Premier League goals in 18 games.
This season, the 20-year-old has made 12 appearances in all competitions for Southampton, including 10 in the Championship and has received interest from Newcastle United, according to talkSPORT.
Furthermore, The Sun revealed that Portuguese league champions Benfica and Bundesliga side RB Leipzig were keen to sign the Argentinian central midfielder. Football Transfers reported that Southampton slapped a price tag of £30 million on the youngster, almost three times what they paid for him less than a year ago.
Nevertheless, just a few days after this report by Football Transfers, the club announced that Alcaraz had penned a new five-year deal, despite signing a four-and-a-half-year contract when he first joined in January.
Regardless, the Evening Standard have still claimed that Premier League side Fulham are eyeing up making a move for Alcaraz when the winter window opens as Marco Silva looks to add depth in the middle of the park.
Writer’s View
Southampton placed a price tag of £30 million on Alcaraz before he signed a new deal so this may have even risen since.
Alcaraz signing the contract shows that he’s happy at Southampton but this could change should the club fail to gain promotion back to the Premier League. In that case, Fulham will be waiting.
