Southampton manager Ronald Koeman has revealed that the club failed with a bid for Leeds United defender Sam Byram earlier this summer.
The Saints are currently in the process of rebuilding their squad ahead of the new season after seeing a handful of key players leave St Mary's Stadium.
Southampton are understood to have made an offer of around £4m for 20-year-old Byram.
"He was a player we had on [our list of targets] and it's true that we had a bid for him, yes," Koeman is quoted as saying by Sky Sports News. "What I heard was that Leeds didn't accept it."
Southampton play their first match of the new Premier League campaign on Sunday when they travel to Liverpool.