Southampton have today made another play in the transfer market, signing young centre-back Wesley Hoedt from Lazio.
Speculation linking the young defender to the Saints has been dragged on for a matter of weeks, but today the club have confirmed that the defender has joined the side.
Hoedt becomes the third major signing of Southampton’s summer, after recruiting Jan Bednarek and Mario Lemina respectively.
Whilst the latter still has the potential to be the club’s record signing, Hoedt will stand on his own as Southampton most expensive defender, with the speculated fee believed to be around £15.4 million. Add-on’s could also be included, whilst the defender’s contract will last for five years.
Hoedt has featured sporadically for Lazio since joining on a free two seasons ago, making around 20 appearances a season as back-up to their three main centre-halves.
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However at 23 the young Dutchman has plenty of room to grow, and has been brought in to compliment Virgil van Dijk, rather than as a replacement for him.
It does that mean that the Saints have a plethora of defenders on their books as they go into the game against Wolves tomorrow, although Hoedt is more likely to get some minutes against Huddersfield this coming weekend.
Keeping Van Dijk after signing Hoedt would be a statement of intent from the club, but would also raise questions as to what kind of involvement Bednarek will get this coming season, with Jack Stephens and Maya Yoshida also ahead of him in the pecking order.
However for now the supporters will be happy that the club have cracked on with business, with two weeks to go until the end of the window and at least one more signing needed.