Everything you need to know about... Graziano Pelle

This summer looks to be one of great change for Southampton. Luke Shaw and Adam Lallana have already left St Mary’s during the close season and it is up to new coach Ronald Koeman to try and prevent the degradation of the team.

With star striker Rickie Lambert having already departed to join Liverpool, the 52-year-old Dutchman’s first job is to replace the 6ft 2in England international who was one of the team’s main sources of goals in recent years. It’s no easy task, but Koeman’s answer to the problem could lie at his former club Feyenoord with centre-forward Graziano Pelle.

Recent reports suggest the Premier League side are preparing to launch an £8 million bid for the forward and it would make perfect sense for the pair to reunite in England.

The Italian striker has been the star at Feyenoord for the last two years. With his power, strength, finishing ability and control, it was easy for Koeman to simply build the team around him and allow him to bang the goals in.

Players like Jay Rodriguez, Steven Davis and James Ward-Prowse around him and providing great service, he could replicate the partnership he had in Rotterdam with Jean-Paul Boetius, Ruben Schaken, Lex Immers and Tonny Vilhena which allowed him to net 55 goals in 66 games across two season in the iconic red and white.

Like Lambert, Pelle benefits a great deal from acting as the pinnacle of a team’s attack. He can act as a target man, putting his strength and aerial ability to use, or as the fulcrum in a side which, like Feyenoord and Southampton, will play more passing-based, technical football.

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