Southampton: Saints keeper McCarthy signs new deal

Southampton goalkeeper Alex McCarthy has committed his future to the club after signing a new four-year deal.

After hitting a sparkling run of form in the Southampton team at the end of the 2017/18 season, he has effectively dismissed supposed interest in him from other Premier League clubs to stay at St Mary’s.

Rumours of Tottenham Hotspur coming in for the 28-year-old this summer were seen around a month ago and seem to have worked in his favour with Saints now handing him an improved deal.

McCarthy took the place of Fraser Forster in December’s clash with Manchester United and kept a clean sheet. Things only seemed to improve for him from that moment despite the team’s struggles overall.

He went on to make 26 first-team appearances and collected eight clean sheets as Saints avoided Premier League relegation and made it to the FA Cup semi-finals.

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With his place as the club’s number 1 now rubber stamped for 2018/19, his move to the South Coast in the summer of 2016 is proving to be a great decision for his career.

Inconsistent spells at Reading, QPR and Crystal Palace had provided top-flight football before now, but he now seems to be the the most settled he has been at any stage so far.

Whilst at Reading, McCarthy also had a number of loan spells away from the Madejski Stadium in the lower leagues.

Yeovil, Ipswich, Leeds, Aldershot and Brentford have seen him between the sticks since he broke into senior football in 2007.

It looks increasingly likely that there may be another goalkeeper at St Mary’s too come the start of the season. Saints have today been linked with a £15m move from Manchester City’s Angus Gunn, who had a successful loan spell at Norwich City during the last campaign.

This would throw Fraser Forster’s future at the club into doubt and confirm the club’s commitment to giving English players a chance in the pressure of the Premier League.