This Elche defender is Southampton's answer to losing Harwood-Bellis
David Affengruber, of Elche. SaintsExtra put a post out within a minute of confirming that Harwood-Bellis was booked in for his Aston Villa medical, sourcing it from the Belgian reporter Sacha Tavolieri.
Elche apparently want €12m for him, but Southampton could get it done nearer €10m, which, with thirty-odd hours left in the window, either gets done and dusted in an afternoon or does get done at all.
What Elche have been getting out of him
The Austrian went to Spain in 2024, helped Elche win promotion, and then handled La Liga without difficulty. The fact that he has done that would stand him in good stead if he came to England to partner Schlotterbeck. An Austrian and a German at centre-back has a certain ring of robust assurance about it.
Affengruber ranks inside the top ten per cent of La Liga defenders for tackles, recoveries and interceptions. He also ranks up there for successful passes and successful dribbles, which is an odd combination to find in the same defender and probably explains why Manchester United have reportedly had a look too.
At 6ft 1 in, he is hardly a giant. He still wins roughly 64 per cent of his aerial duels. On the ground, it is about the same.
Austria capped him for the first time this year and took him to the World Cup, so somebody with better scouts than most has already made the call.
The Austrian's profile is not quite a straight swap for Harwood-Bellis. He is more a defender who does the front-foot, aggressive stuff.
Two centre-backs, one shirt
It was reported on Sunday afternoon that Saints had submitted a fresh offer worth more than £8m for Henrik Falchener at Viking. That deal has been brewing for a while, with Saints Marching flagging a £7m target, signalling intent earlier in the summer.
Keven Schlotterbeck is already over the line and playing. Joshua Quarshie has gone out on a season long loan to Sturm Graz loan, which leaves Nathan Wood and Stephens as the cover.
How much weight should you put on the Affengruber rumour? Not much, not yet. No mainstream English outlet has run with it this morning, and €12m is a bit steep.
Rumoured competition for his signature from Manchester United will only alert other EPL clubs too, so Johannes Spors would do very well to get this one over the line.
Falchener is the most realistic deal Southampton can hope to get done before the window shuts at 11 pm on Tuesday night.
Whether Affengruber can be done quickly enough to make the Falchener deal less of an issue will be revealed in the next 30 hours or so.
