The Saints have officially signed Virgil Van Dijk in the closing hours of the transfer window on Tuesday.
Welcome to #SaintsFC, @VirgilvDijk! pic.twitter.com/eOG8zkv34x
— Southampton FC (@SouthamptonFC) September 1, 2015
Southampton have been rumoured heavily with the Dutch defender throughout the transfer window and the deal finally materialized with Van Dijk signing a five year contract. The fee is rumoured to be around £11.5m. The 24-year-old came to the South Coast late last night to complete the medical and a deal was struck this morning. Saying earlier today,
I’m so excited and I can’t wait of course. I hope I settle in real quick and get everything around football, get all those things sorted and start playing and enjoying it as well. The most important thing in football is just to have fun.
In his interview with the club he describes his eagerness to play in the Premier League and to learn from former defender, fellow Dutchman, and now manager, Ronald Koeman. Van Dijk’s decision seemed to be effected by other Dutch players on Southampton and Fraser Forster, his former teammate at Celtic.
He also claimed that the recent elimination from the Europa League did not change his decision saying,
It didn’t change anything. I was watching the games as well and unfortunately it didn’t happen but i think we have a lot of quality to maybe do it next year.
The late signing was expected after the recent departure of Toby Alderweireld and the injury to Florin Gardos left central defence in shambles. Weeks of tabloids and uncertainty lead to the deal and now, finally, the Saints have a defender of great quality who can compete for a first team position from day 1.
