Daily Echo:

SAINTS are believed to be nearing an agreement for Mauricio Pellegrino's first signing as Saints boss – with the club pursuing a deal worth just over £5m for Lech Poznan's highly rated centre back Jan Bednarek.

After Lech's initial reluctance to do business for one of their prized assets, Saints, who started their pursuit of Bednarek before the appointment of Pellegrino, are understood to have returned with a bid meeting the Polish club's valuation of the 21-year-old.

German clubs Hannover and Freiburg also held a firm interest in Bednarek, but neither submitted an offer that could compete with Saints'.

Despite just finishing a poor European Under-21 Championships with Poland – in which he gave away a penalty and was sent off in a 3-0 group stage defeat to England, the central defender still commands a burgeoning reputation and is considered among the most exciting emerging Polish talents.

Saints have monitored the progress of Bednarek for the past year, during which he made a breakthrough for Lech's first team.

The 6ft2in defender helped Nenad Bjelica's side to a third place finish in Poland's top flight, playing 27 times.

Lech had originally told Saints they were in no mood to sell anyone this summer, especially this early in the transfer window and with the Poles expecting him to flourish at the European Championships – therefore increasing his value.

But an improved offer from Saints after an earlier one was rebuffed and Bednarek's performances for Poland, meant Lech are now ready to do business.

Saints view the rookie defender as one for the future, rather than the finished product.

But with bags of potential they feel the Poland Under-21 international fits the bill as they look for defensive reinforcements.

The switch would not mean a change in situation for Virgil van Dijk, whose future has been one of the main talking points of the closed season so far.

The Dutchman has attracted interest from virtually all the Premier League's leading clubs.

But Saints, who have yet to receive any bids for the club's captain, believe they are in a strong position to hold on to their talismanic defender, who signed a six year deal last year.

Nonetheless the St Mary's outfit are after defensive cover.

After Jose Fonte's exit in January, Saints brought in centre back Martin Caceres to bolster their options on a short term basis.

However, the Uruguayan played just once and will be released at the end of this month when his five month contract expires.

That leaves Saints short at the back, with Jack Stephens, Maya Yoshida and Van Dijk their only established senior options at central defence.

There is also forgotten man Florin Gardos, who has a year left on his four year contract.

The 28-year-old has work to do to force his way back into contention, but will feel, with a new manager on his way into St Mary's, he could get another chance.

After several injuries, Gardos has featured just once in the last two seasons and that was in the embarrassing 5-0 FA Cup defeat to Arsenal in January.

The £6m signing from Steaua Bucharest, who arrived in the summer of 2014, recently returned to the Romania national team and will be eager for a full pre-season to get him up to speed ahead of a make or break campaign for his St Mary's career.