Saints look unlikely to complete a quick swoop for Ecuadorian defender Frickson Erazo.

The 25-year-old has been heavily linked with a move to St Mary’s in recent days, with a rumoured fee of £2.5m being bandied about.

However, sources in Ecuador have confirmed that, while Erazo would be interested in a move to Saints, the club have yet to make any concrete offers for the Barcelona SC defender.

The 6ft 3in centre half came up through the ranks of El Nacional, playing 68 games and scoring two goals over the course of four years before a move to another Ecuadorian side in the shape of Barcelona SC, with whom he won the country’s Serie A title.

He has also won 21 caps for his country.

Saints have already signed one central defender this season, splashing out £8.5m on Dejan Lovren.

The club have history with Ecuadorian players, having signed three in the past.

The first of those was the infamous Agustin Delgado, the £4m striker who suffered from knee injuries and often returned home to Ecuador for treatment, much to the bafflement of manager Gordon Strachan, who once claimed he had a yogurt to eat that was important to him than his player.

Delgado’s cousin, Kleber Chala, joined at the same time but never managed to get a first team appearance.

The third Ecuadorian to join Saints was ‘The Torpedo’ Federico Arias.

The winger also left the club without making a single first team appearance.