Saints have lodged a bit with Dutch side Feyenoord for goalkeeper Justin Bijlow according to the latest reports from the Netherlands, so will this be the man who fits the bill for Russell Martin.

Media outlets including givemesport.com have claimed that Southampton have lodged a bid with Feyenoord for their goalkeeper Justin Bijlow.

The 26 year old first broke into the first team at the tail end of 2017/18 season however at times injuries have blighted his career, that being the case last season where two separate injuries meant he played in just half of the Eredivisie games he could have done.

This season has seen him lose his place to Timon Wellenreuther who joined the club last summer from Anderlecht and now Bijlow wants regular first team football to ensure he keeps his place in the Netherland's squad, at Euro 24, he was an unused sub and in total has earned 8 caps in the last 3 years at full international level.

He has 104 appearances in the Eredivisie to his name with Feyenoord and also experience in not just domestic cup competitions, but also the Europa & Champions Leagues.

In January 2024 everybodysoccer.com ranked him at 17th place in the list of best goalkeepers in the World.

In June 2023, Bijlow said that his former goalkeeping team mates Brad Jones and Kenneth Vermeer helped him the most during his career, especially for high balls, saving one-on-one chances and staying calm. Bijlow named leading a defence and a team, saving shots on the goal line and distributing with his feet as his qualities. Jones called Bijlow "determined" and "willing to learn"

That seems just the type of keeper that Saints are looking for and it seems that they have already spoken to Feyenoord and opened negotiations.

It is also reported that:

"Feyenoord scouts are already scouring the market for a potential replacement with the negotiations so concrete, with the Saints willing to pay millions to find an agreement for Bijlow."

It will be interesting to see if this deal is as concrete as the media claim, certainly Feyenoord have started this season with Wellenreuther as first choice and they also have former Manchester City U21 keeper Mikki Van Sas on the books.

Feyenoord are said to have recently received offers from both Arsenal and Atlético Madrid for Bijlow, but both those clubs planned for him to be second choice, whilst he will only move for first team football.

If Saints do land him then the expected transfer fee would be somewhere between the £12 million he is currently valued at and the £15 million he was worth a year ago, his contract at the Rotterdam club has two years left to run so Feyenoord could well look to cash in now.

Photo: Action Images

Bowlercow added 13:33 - Aug 21 Appears to tick all the boxes but with our record of signing sick notes his fitness may be a cause for concern
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LondonSaint76 added 13:33 - Aug 21 Sounds about fight, top 20 world ranking, good with feet, age OK, plays in a League from which incoming players seem to easily adapt to the PL. Only possible concern might be fitness record but at the budget constraints we operate under I doubt we can do a lot better. Sounds promising.
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AmericanSaint added 13:58 - Aug 21 Well I would prefer a GK with PL experience like Ramsdale or Steele, but I guess this will do. I read that Wolves are looking at Ramsdale for around $20M and if they get him for that, I think Saints have done us a disservice with buying more midfielders. Time will tell. Ok let's see how this plays out.
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UgandaSaint added 21:04 - Aug 21 Any keeper's price has gone up a few million thanks to McCalamity, everyone can see how desperate Saints are now. Should have made goalkeeper our first signing after gaining promotion.
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LoisDeem added 09:26 - Aug 22 If he can stay fit long enough to dovetail in with McCarthy's next purple patch or to compete with Bazunu on his own return to fitness and consistency? A competent goalkeeper makes all the difference, but knowing Saints luck? Be nice then if we can isolate our problems down to the 'floating' or spare central defender issue and getting enough goals from the team -surely?

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highfield49 added 18:58 - Aug 22 Great news, after all of the speculation about Ramsdale etc the owners seem to have discovered a potential gem under the radar. I'm as guilty as most supporters when signings don't materialise on demand, we all know AM's limitations, but we never know what hard work is being done behind the scenes to recruit players. I think we can all be very hopeful that a new keeper is on the way in the near future. Phew.

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