Ivan Juric's preferred substitute tipped to land bizarre Italian opportunity | OneFootball

Ivan Juric's regular substitute candidate Yukinari Sugawara is attracting an Italian football prospect from Napoli.

While figuring out solutions to bolster the centre-back concerns, Ivan Juric has played around the idea of improving his fullbacks. Though it's been a weird transition, the wide defenders have attained good momentum in recent weeks.

Particularly, the right-back spot where Kyle Walker-Peters won over Juric's trust to retain his old responsibility. Now, that role-shuffling came at Yukinari Sugawara's expense which didn't feel ideal until the turn of the month.

That's because Sugawara's defensive lapses may seem rare but they often inflict a heavy blow to Southampton's winning aspirations. Thus, the Saints are starting to align with their manager that the 24-year-old should be a bit-part substitute player at least for the time being.

Now, that unhappy timeframe is about to be over for Sugawara in the most bizarre manner possible.

Sugawara may be closer to winning major honours in the future

The reason being that Fabrizio Romano has highlighted that Italian silverware hopefuls Napoli are weighing up a transfer for Sugawara.

In his own words, Romano reflected on Napoli's widening ambitions to land Sugawara: "Napoli have added Yukinari Sugawara to their shortlist at right back position. He's one of the names being monitored for the summer."

In all honesty, Southampton needs to address some questions about their current roster. Though they don't combine well together in the Premier League, are they so talented that the European elites are tussling it out for their signature?

On a similar note, it would be so unusual to watch a few Saints playing at the biggest showpiece tournaments just months after losing their Premier League status. Still, Southampton wouldn't interfere much against these offers as long as their transfer boundaries are getting respected.

With struggling players like Sugawara, the Saints shouldn't waste any precious chance in finalising a deal. Let's see whether there will be more of Sugawara's transfer gossip in the coming days.