Southampton Opinion: Why the Saints should target Bruno Martins Indi?

Southampton have been fighting tooth and nail to avoid relegation from the Premier League this season.

The Saints have improved a lot under Ralph Hasenhuttl, who has brought a sense of unity and fighting spirit in the players.

On a whole, Southampton have done well under Hasenhuttl but there have been few areas that’ll undoubtedly need strengthening in the summer. One of the areas is the defence, which has been leaky this season.

It remains to be seen if the St. Mary’s outfit keep their top-flight status or not but what’s important ahead of the next season is defensive reinforcements. Jan Bednarek has been the standout figure at the back but none of Maya Yoshida, Jannik Vestergaard and Jack Stephens have inspired much.

To put things into perspective, Bednarek needs a reliable partner in central defence and Hasenhuttl should target Stoke City’s Bruno Martins Indi.

Bruno Martins Indi, 27, joined Stoke City from FC Porto in 2017 after impressing on a loan spell. He has been a regular fixture at the back for the Potters in the Championship, managing 31 appearances so far. Stoke aren’t in a pole position to achieve promotion at the first time of asking and are on a dreadful run of form, winning just once in the last five games.

Martins Indi’s performances over the past two months have been appreciable in an underwhelming Stoke side. The Netherlands international is a quality defender and looking onto his displays of late, Southampton shouldn’t hesitate to splash the cash on him.

Standing at 6ft 1in tall, Martins Indi is a really strong, physical and robust defender who has shown his versatility this season by playing at left-back. The Barreiro-born star is strong in the air, but is also quick along the ground and possesses a fantastic knack of anticipating danger before it actually develops.

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He is very good in building the attack from the back and being a left-footed, his addition would give Southampton a better balance in central defence.

Conclusion

The Netherlands international has already proven himself in the English game with Stoke and if Hasenhuttl manages to bring him to St Mary’s this summer, it could turn out to be a signing of real significance for Southampton.