Former Birmingham City centre-forward Che Adams is closing in on a deal to join Serie A outfit Torino following his release from Southampton, according to the latest reports.
Adams had entered into the final 12 months of his contract at the St. Mary’s Stadium last summer and, as a result, garnered interest from a number of clubs in the Premier League, including bottom-half sides Everton and Wolverhampton Wanderers who were looking to bolster their forward lines.
While attempts were made to sign the attacker last year and during the January transfer window, Adams remained with the Saints and helped steer the side back to the top-flight of English football at the first time of asking, forming an excellent partnership with Adam Armstrong up front. The Scotland international scored 18 goals and recorded six assists for Southampton in the previous campaign but officially left the club as a free agent at the beginning of July.
Despite his future being uncertain with the Saints, head coach Russell Martin admitted last week that it was unlikely that Adams would sign a new contract with the club. Furthermore, on Sunday morning, Italian journalist Giacomo Morandin revealed that the striker was close to joining Torino in Italy’s top tier but that there are “still some missing details” to complete the deal.
Nevertheless, transfer expert Fabrizio Romano has now backed up Morandin’s claim, reporting that Il Toro and the Scotsman have entered into the final stages of negotiations and that Adams has been convinced of the club’s project.
The 28-year-old joined Birmingham City from Sheffield United back in 2014 for a mere £1.5 million. The Leicester-born forward went on to make 123 appearances for the West Midlands team within which he bagged 51 goal contributions before being flipped for £15 million to Southampton in 2019.
Writer’s View
Adams’ time with the club on the south coast has been up and down but he has now decided to make the jump to a new country with a completely different culture rather than trying his hand at Premier League football once more with the Saints which is certainly admirable.
From being a rising star in his early 20s with Birmingham City, many punters would have predicted Adams would go on and play for some of the biggest clubs in Scotland. Unfortunately, his career never reached these heights and it seemed as though his development stagnated a little at Southampton despite his impressive numbers last season. Nevertheless, this move could represent a positive change for the player, allowing him to compete against some of the best teams in the world, including AC Milan, Juventus and Inter Milan.
