Southampton manager Nigel Adkins is still hopeful a deal can be done to bring Gaston Ramirez to St Mary’s before Friday’s transfer deadline, according to Sky Sports.
The highly-rated forward has been linked with an £11 million move to the Saints this summer, but a deal has yet to be agreed with his current club Bologna.
Reports last week indicated the deal may be off, but Adkins is refusing to give up on signing the Uruguayan international before the transfer window slams shut.
Adkins has so far refused to be drawn on the subject until all paperwork has been completed, but admitted the size of the fee they are willing to pay shows the level of ambition the Premier League new boys have.
He said: “Until the pieces of paper are signed you can never say it’s done, but the chairman is working exceptionally hard behind scenes and is backing us in what we do.”
“We are very ambitious and there is serious cash to be outlaid if it’s going to happen.”
Adkins was also delighted with the performance from his side as they beat Stevenage 4-1 to advance to the next round of the Capital One Cup, and the quality of the goals in particular.
“We knew it was going to be a tough test, but we have ticked a lot of boxes tonight,” he added.
“We scored four exceptional goals, (Tadanari) Lee has scored and got 90 minutes under his belt after his injury and we showed exceptionally quick thinking for the second, and they were tremendous strikes from Jason (Puncheon) and Ben (Reeves).”
Adkins must now look ahead to a far greater test, as the new boys prepare to take on Manchester United at St Mary’s this Sunday.
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