Hoffenheim submit bid to sign Southampton’s Armel Bella-Kotchap

According to Florian Plettenberg, Hoffenheim have made an official offer in their bid to sign Southampton centre-back Armel Bella-Kotchap.

It had recently been reported that both Stuttgart and Hoffenheim were in the race to lure Bella-Kotchap back to the Bundesliga.

However, as stated in the report, it appears as though a move to Stuttgart is now out of the picture.

It is understood that the Bundesliga runners-up have seen their opening bid of less than €10 million immediately rejected by the Saints.

Instead, over the past 24 hours, Hoffenheim have made an approach for the former VfL Bochum defender, which is considered to be better than that of Stuttgart’s.

As well as this, Bella-Kotchap is said to be keen on moving to Hoffenheim, with all parties pushing for the deal to go through.

It is believed the 22-year-old is now on the verge of leaving Southampton after his two-year stint at the club only resulted in a total of 26 appearances before being loaned out to PSV Eindhoven last season.

GGFN | Will Shopland