Southampton complete surprise seventh summer transfer deal

Southampton have confirmed that young midfielder Alex Jankewitz has completed a move to Swiss side BSC Young Boys.

A club statement on the transfer on Monday morning revealed a deal had been struck for the 19-year-old to ply his trade in his homeland once again and wished him well for the future.

In the end, Jankewitz may well prove to be one huge talent that got away from Saints.

He is already highly-rated and could be one of the next big stars for Switzerland but seemed to crave opportunities for first-team football, which the club could not provide at this moment in time.

Did Southampton and Jankewitz lose patience with each other?

Jankewitz was handed his full senior debut for Saints back in February but things could not have got off to a worse start for him.

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He was sent off within two minutes of the away fixture against Manchester United after a bad challenge. However, his actions were perhaps due to his inexperience in what was a big game for Saints at the time, and being a man down led to an eventual 9-0 loss.

Sadly he received some sickening messages of racial abuse in the aftermath of the game and this led to an investigation by Saints that was aided by Hampshire police. Fans united in their support for the youngster online after this was revealed.

This was not long after he had handed in a transfer request to the club after growing frustrated with a lack of first-team opportunities. Now he has his wish and will be hoping to play a big part for his new club.

For Saints, they have received an undisclosed figure for Jankewitz amid an important summer of transfer action for them.

Theo Walcott and Romain Perraud are the first players who have arrived through the door at St Mary’s, whilst Wesley Hoedt and Angus Gunn have moved on permanently. Jake Vokins and Kayne Ramsay have taken loan deals away to open up more space in and around Ralph Hasenhuttl’s squad.