£8.6m Southampton player eyed up by German club for summer transfer | OneFootball

Hamburg are keen to sign Armel Bella-Kotchap, who has been struggling for gametime at Southampton.

Southampton defender Armel Bella-Kotchap is of interest to newly-promoted Bundesliga outfit Hamburg following his struggles for game-time at the Championship club.

The 23-year-old moved to St Mary's Stadium in 2022, but has only managed 31 appearances for the Saints in the years that have followed

Three years into his Saints journey, could Bella-Kotchap finally be about to exit the south coast club?

Hamburg interested in Southampton outcast Armel Bella-Kotchap

Bella-Kotchap is on the radar of Hamburg, according to reports from German outlet Hamburger Abendblatt - via GFNG - with the defender said to be seeking a move back to the Bundesliga before the beginning of the new season.

Sleeping giants Hamburg will return to the German top flight for the 2025/26 season, but face competition to sign the Southampton centre-back.

Werder Bremen and Borussia Mönchengladbach have also shown an interest in the two-time capped German international, while HSV have renewed their interest from the winter transfer window.

Hamburg were unable to sign Bella-Kotchap in January, but have seen their chances of sealing his signing boosted by their promotion back into the Bundesliga.

Bella-Kotchap moved to Southampton from Bochum three years ago for £8.6 million, after coming through their youth ranks. Now, the 2. Bundesliga winner is reportedly keen to return to his home country after struggling to find consistent gametime in England.

Bella-Kotchap has the intention of returning to Germany in order to catch the eye of national team head coach Julian Nagelsmann ahead of the upcoming World Cup campaign, although whether he can make it into the squad remains to be seen

Armel Bella-Kotchap's time at Southampton looks over, even with new manager Will Still arriving

Bella-Kotchap only played four Premier League games last season, as Southampton saw their return to the top-flight last just one term.

He failed to make a single appearance in the prior Sky Bet Championship campaign for the time he was at the club for the first few games, before he joined Dutch giants PSV Eindhoven for the rest of the 2023-24 season - that didn't go to p;an either.

The defender managed just nine times in the Netherlands, but has found minutes even harder to come by since returning to the Saints.

A move away from Southampton may well be in Bella-Kotchap's best interests, especially if he has his eyes set on sneaking into the World Cup planning of the German national team.

One mark in the other column could be that he has the chance to impress a new manager though, with Will Still taking charge of the club recently, and you'd expect many players to have a clean slate under his leadership.

A number of players have already left the south-coast outfit since the end of the 2024/25 campaign, including the retiring Adam Lallana and exciting full-back Kyle Walker-Peters.

German defender Joshua Quarshie has signed for Southampton, with the 20-year-old further bulking up the defensive ranks that Bella-Kotchap has found it hard to break into.

Bella-Kotchap has struggled to cement a full-time place in the Saints starting 11 throughout his spell in England, and has been nowhere close to matching the 24 appearances he notched in his debut campaign in the subsequent two seasons.