Lazio's sporting director Igli Tare has spoken publicly in Italy to confirm Wesley Hoedt will leave Lazio and join Southampton.

Igli Tare the sporting director of Italian club Lazio has confirmed that Dutch central defender Wesley Hoedt is set to join Southampton and explained his departure.

The Dutch centre-back is on the verge of joining the Saints on what is reported to be a four-year contract.

Asked about the 23-year-old leaving the Biancocelesti, the Lazio official revealed that it was simply about the fact that the defender could not be guaranteed first-team football at the Stadio Olimpico.

“The decision to sell him was at his request because he wanted to be a guaranteed starter, here he didn’t have that guarantee."

“Shortly, he will be sold to Southampton. His experience at Lazio has been a positive one.”

Saints fans await the official announcement from Saints with anticipation.

Photo: Action Images

petedoors1 added 21:56 - Aug 20 Looks like we are going to get some good news in the next day or to then. About time we sorted out our poor central defence.
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Shep23 added 22:10 - Aug 20 We have bleeding goals since Fonte left and VVD got injured so will be good to see some strength here especially when VVD accepts the obligations of the long term contract he signed
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skiptonsaint added 08:11 - Aug 21 This looks like a clever upgrade on Fonte who if here now would be an issue judging by Saturday
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underweststand added 09:04 - Aug 21 there seem to be many angles to the VvD story. We may still sell him before window ends, despite Ralph's statement.."now that we have 2 more CB options the situation has changed ..yeah, yeah" .or if we hold on to him until January...whichever of the top 5-6 teams that is struggling with a leaky defence will pay what we demand in order to secure their CL status before season ends. Either way, like him or not ...if VvD doesn't want to play for us, then the sooner he cleans out his locker ..the better. It is also one in the eye for someone who hasn't made the latest Holland squad, by replacing him with another Dutchman who might eventually take his international place OUCH Virgil !

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underweststand added 09:13 - Aug 21 ALSO : overall ...last seasons squad didn't look so bad. Aside from the fairly predictable defeats by Man City and Arsenal.we didn't concede too mnay goals. The main problem was - of course - we didn't score enough...not the defences fault. Puels formations didn't encourage many attacks but concentrated on possession football. A few goals- in certain games- might have given us another 10-12 points, but even then not enough to finish above Everton. The long absences of both Austin and VvD didn't help.

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SanMarco added 09:33 - Aug 21 It is true we can still sell VVD but it really does have to be totally on OUR terms. Going along with a 'alright little club, you've made your point - now behave yourselves and sell to the big boys' sentiment would be disastrous and Bertrand and Cedric would then assume the 'right' to go too. I don't agree with underweststand: ever since the Fonte-VVD partnership ended we have been weaker. The stats say we conceded more but anyone who has played in a team with a weak defence will know that it affects everything. You don't charge upfield with confidence when you know your back line is weak. Yes before Christmas the lack of a goalscorer was a problem but our travails after that (League Cup Final in particular) were due to weaknesses at the back.

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bstokesaint added 12:46 - Aug 21 I agree with your first comment SanMarco, but I also think as well as the confidence a strong defence can give you, a great attacking line can also mask over a poor defence. Basically at the back end of last season we didn't look in danger of outscoring anyone. In fact in the Europa even with VVD we looked totally incapable of scoring against poor opposition. That said I look forward to welcoming additional strength to the backline. If the new boy follows in the steps of Lovren, Toby and VVD then we'll hopefully have a new leader in defence for those around him to aspire to. And what will VVD be thinking now?

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