Southampton's out-of-favour Juanmi on the verge of sealing Real Sociedad move

Southampton's out-of-favour Juanmi is on the verge of completing his move to Real Sociedad after the clubs ironed out the sticking points of the deal earlier this week, his agent has confirmed to IBTimes UK. The 23-year-old striker travel to San Sebastian on Tuesday (7 June) to undergo the medical and is now just waiting for the paperwork from the Saints to finalise the deal.

Juanmi moved to St Mary's Stadium from Malaga last summer after garnering a reputation as one of the most promising forwards to emerge from the well-regarded Spanish academy, netting eight La Liga goals and earning a first call-up to Vicente del Bosque's national team for the friendly against Netherlands after Chelsea's Diego Costa pulled out injured.

The Saints agreed then to meet his £5.5m release clause but the talented forward has struggled to replicate his Malaga success in his meagre 19 appearances in the physical theatre of English football, starting only two games in the Capital One Cup while failing to find the net under Ronald Koeman.

Malaga and Real Sociedad tried to take advantage of the situation during the January transfer window but the Basque side failed to reach an agreement with the Premier League outfit, who were reluctant to let him go on the cheap only months after settling his buy-out clause to Malaga.

Real Sociedad president Jokin Aperribay revealed earlier last month that the La Liga side will make a new attempt during the approaching transfer market and, following weeks of complicated negotiations, the clubs have reached an agreement in principle to complete the move.

Juanmi's agent, Manuel Garcia Quilon, confirmed the news to IBTimes UK on Tuesday.

"It is not completed because we still need to receive some paperwork from Southampton but it looks like everything is okay and that it can be announced in the coming hours," Quilon admitted while adding that the departure of Koeman to Everton "is not expected to affect the deal as it has been in the works for weeks".

Quilon refused to provide more details about the agreement but IBTimes UK understands that the agent was in England two weeks ago to facilitate the deal as Southampton's demands for the player were too high for Real Sociedad. In the end the Basque side have agreed to pay a fee in the region of £3-4m plus add-ons which in the best case can see the Saints recouping much of the investment they made last summer to lure him out of Malaga.