SAINTS are giving a trial to African striker Souleymane Oulare.

Oulare, from Equitorial Guinea, comes highly-rated as a striker.

He was top scorer in Belgium three years ago when he partnered Derby striker Branco Strupar in the Genk attack that won the Belgian title.

That earned him a transfer in the region of £3m to Turkish club Fenerbache.

According to Spanish website 'topfutbol', Oulare fell into disrepute with the Istanbul outfit over unpaid wages and was loaned out to Spanish Primera Liga side UD Las Palmas.

He maintained his reputation for scoring with eight goals in 16 games for the Canary Islands team.

Saints boss Stuart Gray said: "He was recommended by Terry Cooper. We're having him over for a few days to have a look at him."

Cooper is currently out in Finland watching the cream of Europe's young talent in the European Youth championships.

Representatives from Real Madrid, Juventus, AC Milan and Bayern Munich, are there, but only three other English clubs apart from Saints, bothered to send scouts.

Part of Cooper's brief while in Finland is to keep an eye on Saints' investment, Jacinta Ela Eyene, who is starring in the Spanish team.

"I have seen him play twice this week and he looked tremendous," said Cooper of the 18-year-old from Espanyol.

"We've been watching him for 14 months and luckily we managed to get him when a lot of other clubs were chasing him."