Hull City, Sheffield United & QPR dealt blow in Crystal Palace transfer pursuit as £7m bid placed | OneFootball

The Saints have submitted another offer in what could be a blow to the Tigers' aims of pursuing the Palace winger

Southampton are making another "surprise bid" in their aims to acquire Crystal Palace's Jesurun Rak-Sakyi, which could affect Hull City's own pursuit of the winger, as well as the likes of QPR and Sheffield United.

That is according to Alan Nixon via his Patreon account, with the transfer guru revealing the latest twist in the ongoing transfer saga involving the 21-year-old Eagles attacker.

Hull's rebuilding job this summer has been laid bare through the loss of several key players, regardless of the fact some of those were expected to happen a long time ago.

The most recent one of those was the eventual departure of Jaden Philogene, who returned to Aston Villa last week in a reported £13 million deal, just 10 months after Liam Rosenior acquired the winger's services for £5 million.

Even before the loss of their prized asset was confirmed, City had joined the race alongside several other Championship sides to pursue a loan move for Rak-Sakyi, but strong interest from the newly-promoted Premier League outfit has added further complications to those prospects, despite Hull's own ambitions.

Southampton prepare fresh offer for Jesurun Rak-Sakyi amid Hull City ambition

As referenced above, Nixon's latest update reveals that Russell Martin's men have put together a second bid in their hopes of prizing away the sought-after winger from Selhurst Park on a permanent basis.

It was initially revealed on Sky Sports' Transfer Centre (18:54, 18/07) that the South London side had dismissed an enquiry from their divisional rivals over a potential loan-to-buy agreement, as Oliver Glasner's preference is to loan the exciting talent to a second tier club instead.

However, that seemingly hasn't deterred Saints' interest, as it has been claimed by Nixon that the St Mary's outfit are "making a surprise £7 million bid", as well as enquiring over a loan once again if Palace aren't open to selling the former Charlton Athletic loanee.

The update goes on to claim that Palace would only entertain a sale if a much higher bid came their way, on top of a Premier League-standard contract for the wide player.

This could come as somewhat of a blow to Hull's prospects further down the line, with Nixon ending his report by revealing that the Tigers have proposed the highest wage package out of any potential suitor to date, but their strongest competition now comes from Southampton.

Hull City hierarchy have made their Jesurun Rak-Sakyi stance clear

Given the loss of Philogene, who was a target for the Eagles too, it's no surprise that the Tigers are looking to fill such a void as soon as possible.

CEO Tan Kesler has already spoken about their aims of striking a deal with Palace for the winger, but is aware of the stern competition they face, including the likes of QPR and Sheffield United, which has only strengthened amid interest from last season's play-off finalists, Leeds United.

"We made the best offer. Palace feel very comfortable with him playing for us but I think at the moment he's getting interest from another Premier League club.

"If he doesn't go somewhere in the Premier League permanently, I'm confident that I would like to see him with us and we will try to do everything to bring him in. We've spoken with the agent, we've spoken with the player and we're looking to have another conversation with the player.

"The club is just very comfortable with us, Crystal Palace. Thanks to Dougie (Freedman) and Steve (Parish), they're very supportive of the player's development with us so at this minute, it's about the waiting game a little bit."

Hull City are taking the right stance in Jesurun Rak-Sakyi approach

Given that Rak-Sakyi struggled for regular minutes in the top flight last term after such a fruitful 2022/23 campaign at Charlton, where he registered 15 goals and eight assists, many would agree that a year in the second tier would be the next natural and beneficial step in the England youth international's development.

Acun Ilicali has previously stated that City won't be able to spend the same amount of money as they did last season, meaning that it would seem increasingly unlikely that they'd be able to match any permanent offer from Southampton, should they eventually see a bid accepted by Palace.

However, offering the highest wage deal for Rak-Sakyi means that if the hierarchy at Selhurst Park stick to their initial word of loaning the winger to a Championship side, Hull will no doubt be fronting the queue ahead of the likes of Sunderland, Sheffield United and QPR.

It's definitely the right approach to take, but all now depends on what now unfolds in this ongoing transfer battle.