Southampton closing in on appointing Ivan Juric as manager

Juric, 49, was recently fired by Serie A giants Roma after only 12 games having taken over in September. He won four, drew three and lost five.

The Croatian is said to be travelling to England today to sign a contract with a verbal agreement already in place.

Finer details of Juric's contract still need to be agreed upon. He has reportedly agreed to sign an 18-month deal with a two-year optional extension.

The expectation is for Juric to toughen the side up, particularly defensively. Southampton are currently bottom with five points and a -25 goal difference.

Juric was considered to replace Ralph Hasenhuttl two years ago but the club reportedly deemed him ‘too expensive’ and decided to appoint Nathan Jones.

Sport Republic's Henrik Kraft and Rasmus Ankersen were in attendance at St Mary's on Wednesday, alongside CEO Phil Parsons. (Image: Stuart Martin) A five-time Croatian international, Juric has been based in Italy for his entire coaching career so this would be his first time working outside of Italian football.

Saints had been linked with Sheffield Wednesday boss Danny Rohl and West Brom manager Carlos Corberan over the last few days.

The St Mary's side would need to pay compensation to agree deals with those two, however, out-of-work Juric would not require compensation.

Interim boss Simon Rusk is currently slated to take charge of Sunday's trip to Fulham. He will face the media this afternoon.

More to follow...