Following Pablo Daniel Osvaldo’s training ground bust-up with team-mate Jose Fonte, Southampton are looking to offload the controversial Argentine-Italian forward in January, with Sampdoria’s Eder seen as a like for like replacement.
Osvaldo, 28, arrived on the south coast for a fee of around €17 million from Eternal City club Roma in the summer, and has been suspended for two weeks by the Saints after allegedly head-butting Portuguese defender Fonte in retaliation during a training session.
According to the Daily Mirror, it could be an incident which spells the end of the Italy international’s short career at St. Mary’s, with Southampton now keen to get rid of the troublesome attacker and bring in Brazilian striker Eder to take his place.
The former Empoli hit-man is enjoying the most productive Serie A campaign of his career, and is the Blucerchiati’s leading scorer this term, having contributed nine goals and two assists in 16 appearances.
Ex-Espanol hit-man Osvaldo is no stranger to controversy, previously punching team-mate Erik Lamela in the changing rooms for not passing him the ball during a match while the pair were at Roma.
He also had a row with Giallorossi captain and club legend Francesco Totti, and insulted then-Lupi Coach Aurelio Andreazzoli for only giving him a brief run-out in May’s Coppa Italia final defeat to bitter rivals Lazio.
