Bournemouth expected to reject Southampton’s Aarons bidpublished at 14:34 2 July
Nick Mashiter
BBC Sport football news reporter
Southampton want to bring the Bournemouth defender to St Mary’s
Southampton have made an offer of around £6m for Bournemouth’s Max Aarons.
Saints have revived their interest in the right-back having wanted to sign him last summer but their bid is expected to be rejected.
They are also close to wrapping up the signings of Nathan Wood from Swansea and Peterborough’s Ronnie Edwards.
Boss Russell Martin, who has agreed a new three-year deal at St Mary’s, is a huge admirer of Aarons, having been Norwich captain when the 24-year-old was an emerging talent at Carrow Road.
Aarons was close to a move to St Mary’s last summer before joining Bournemouth for Premier League football.
Southampton, along with Leeds United, agreed a fee with Norwich – only for the Cherries to make a last-gasp move to snatch the former England Under-21 international in a £12m deal.
Aarons made just 13 Premier League starts for the Cherries last season, and 23 appearances in total, after a persistent hamstring injury hampered his debut campaign.
Saints are preparing for their return to the Premier League after Martin guided them back to the top flight at the first attempt, beating Leeds 1-0 in the play-off final last month.
They have already signed Adam Lallana and Charlie Taylor on free transfers from Brighton and Burnley respectively while Taylor Harwood-Bellis’ loan from Manchester City became permanent after promotion.