Middlesbrough set to benefit as Nathan Wood closes in on Southampton transfer

MIDDLESBROUGH are set to benefit this summer as former defender Nathan Wood closes in on a Premier League move to Southampton.

Academy graduate Wood left the Riverside for Swansea in the summer of 2022 when Chris Wilder was in charge, but Boro are understood to have inserted what has previously been described to the Northern Echo as a "very healthy" sell-on clause.

That now looks set to be triggered with Swansea's former boss Russell Martin set to reunite with the defender at St Mary's.

Southampton tried to sign Wood last summer but failed with two £10m bids. It's not clear at this stage how much Southampton have bid this time around but the clubs are said to be in advanced talks, with a medical booked for the defender with the Premier League newcomers.

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Swansea recently activated a one-year extension to Wood's contract but with just 12 months to run on his deal, boss Luke Williams recently admitted this summer might be the time to cash in on the defender.

He said: “There’s an obvious conclusion to be drawn there, that this might be the correct moment [to sell] because it makes sense all round maybe.

“We are not going to be advertising that there is a sale on, half-price, come and get him because he is an unreal player - we love him to pieces.

“But the situation that presents itself [means] it’s plausible that [a transfer] will happen.”

Wood - the son of former defender Dean Gordon - became Boro's youngest ever player when he made his debut aged 16 years and 72 days against Notts County in the EFL Cup in 2018. He went on to make 14 senior appearances.

The defender was obviously highly rated at Boro but was down the pecking order and didn't feature in the plans of former boss Wilder and had reached the stage where he wanted to be playing more first team football last summer.