20 year old Nigerian forward Victor Udoh is close to sealing a shock move to English Premier League side Southampton from Belgium side Antwerp, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.
Details of the deal still remains sketchy but he is more likely a signing for the club’s U21 for Premier League 2 games and Premier League Cup, where they are firmly in the race to win both.
Another option could be sending him on loan upon the completion of his signing today. The club will make likely announce his signing with the next path of his career carefully spelt out.
Udoh trained with the Nigerian U20 team of Ladan Bosso but didn’t make the cut for any of the three tournaments the team played. The left sided forward moved to Belgium two year ago.
He grabbed the headlines last season when he scored 12 goals in 21 matches for Antwerp’s junior team in the third tier of during the 2023/24 season, before being promoted to the first team.
However he hasn’t found the back of the net in 28 first team appearances although most games he has played as substitute. He hasn’t played for the first team since December following his demotion to the U23s.
The deal could be part of the relationship his nursery team in Nigeria have with Sport Republic, the management team of Southampton, whose sister club Goztepe signed key starting midfielder Anthony Dennis around the same time that Udoh joined Antwerp.
Daniel Martins
