Salisu: "Southampton is a club with a very rich history in developing young players, so it is a very good club for me to develop my skills"
Wednesday 12 August 2020 18:34, UK
Southampton have completed the signing of 21-year-old centre-back Mohammed Salisu on a four-year deal from Real Valladolid.
Saints triggered the £10.9m buyout clause in the Ghanaian's contract, with the defender one of two centre-back targets they were looking at in January.
"It is a very good feeling to be a Southampton player. I am very happy to be part of the club and I am looking forward to starting here," Salisu told the club's website.
"Southampton is a club with a very rich history in developing young players, so it is a very good club for me to develop my skills and to learn a lot as a young player.
"I know that the team expects a lot from me and I'm going to try to give all I can to help the team."
Southampton will not look to sign another centre-back unless they sell one this summer. Jannik Vestergaard was a target for Leicester in the January window.
Salisu's arrival comes a day after Kyle Walker-Peters joined from Tottenham, with Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg heading in the other direction.
"This is an important signing for us," Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl said. "Mohammed is a player who fits our profile well. He is young and has a great amount of potential, but he is also someone who has the qualities to come in and help the team as soon as he is up to speed with our way of playing.
"I like what I have seen of him so far in his games with Valladolid. He is strong defensively, he is calm with the ball - something that is important in our team - and he has good speed too.
"I think he will fit in well with us and that this will be a good place for him to develop his game further. We have some good centre-backs here and this will be another strong option for us."
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