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According to Belgian media outlet Le Soir, Southampton are ready to offer €23.5m (£20m) to sign Standard Liege attacker Moussa Djenepo, and they may well have found their next Sadio Mane in the process.

What’s the word, then?

Well, Le Soir report that Saints are eyeing up the 20-year-old, with the story suggesting that talks between the two clubs over a potential move may even have already taken place last week.

Le Soir say that rumours previously suggested the south coast outfit were interested in Wolfsburg’s Victor Osimhen, but the fact that he is looking likely to join French side Lille means that Southampton have turned their attentions elsewhere – to Djenepo presumably.

The Mali international has enjoyed an impressive season for the Belgian outfit, scoring 11 times and providing a further six assists in 38 appearances in all competitions.

Would he be a good signing?

He is far from the finished article, but then neither was Mane when Saints signed him from Red Bull Salzburg in 2014.

What is clear is that Djenepo is a great dribbler, can score and can create.

The fact that he has those statistics at 20 years of age is certainly impressive, as is the fact that he only moved to Europe from his home country in 2017.

The reported interest in the youngster suggests Southampton are ready to raid the smaller European leagues for talented individuals – as they did with Mane previously – and the African attacker certainly looks to have bundles of potential.

Like the Liverpool ace, Djenepo primarily features on the left wing but is capable of playing anywhere across the front three, which is sure to be an attractive trait for Saints manager Ralph Hasenhuttl.

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The Premier League strugglers have long been looking for an attacker who can cause chaos and make the same impact in the final third that Mane did, and in the Standard Liege man they may just have found him.