Southampton eye Schalke starlet McKennie to fill Hojbjerg void

Southampton have opened talks with Schalke for £20m-rated versatile midfielder Weston McKennie, claims Sky Sports.

Ralph Hasenhuttl is on the market for a new midfielder following the departure of former captain Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg to Tottenham.

Southampton signed Hojbjerg from Bayern Munich in the first place and are now returning to Germany in search of his replacement.

Alerted to McKennie's desire to move to the Premier League, Southampton have now opened discussions with Schalke about a potential move.

Having already signed Kyle Walker-Peters and Mohammed Salisu from Tottenham and Real Valladolid, respectively, Southampton may need to sell to top up their funds to afford McKennie.

The United States international is valued in the region of £20m but Southampton are looking to offload the likes of Wesley Hoedt, Mario Lemina and Guido Carrillo on permanent deals this summer.

McKennie, 21, has already made 78 Bundesliga appearances for Schalke and has returned five goals in that time, with three coming in his last nine outings.

Since McKennie broke into the Schalke first-team at the end of the 2016/17 campaign, the Bundesliga side have a far superior win ratio in the Bundesliga when he hasn't started (42.6%) compared to when he has (26.8%).