Premier League club Southampton have been linked with an ambitious move for Real Madrid midfielder Lucas Silva, according to Spanish source fichajes.net.

Madrid are keen to offload the player due to an excess of non-EU players in their squad and it is believed that Spanish giants would prefer a loan deal instead of an outright sale as the player is still highly rated at the Bernabeu.

The 22-year-old, who made eight league appearances for the club since arriving on a £10million move from Cruzeiro in January, has now emerged on the radar of the Saints who seem him as a contingency in case Sadio Mane is lured to Manchester United.