European giants set for battle over Southampton defender Ryan Bertrand

Ryan Bertrand

The 29-year-old has two years remaining on his deal at St Mary’s and made 24 Premier League appearances for the club last season.

However, the Daily Mail reports that Saints will allow the left-back to depart this summer as they look to promote Matt Targett to a first-choice role.

The report also claims that two European giants are considering a move, with Atletico looking at options for the left side of defence after selling Lucas Hernandez to Bayern Munich.

Inter appointed former Chelsea boss Antonio Conte as their new coach this summer and are said to be closely monitoring the English market, with Bertrand among the players on their radar.

The Spanish and Italian sides want to strike a deal for less than £10 million but the Premier League outfit are demanding £15 million.

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Alasdair Mackenzie is a freelance journalist based in Rome, and a FourFourTwo contributor since 2015. When not pulling on the FFT shirt, he can be found at Reuters, The Times and the i. An Italophile since growing up on a diet of Football Italia on Channel 4, he now counts himself among thousands of fans sharing a passion for Ross County and Lazio.