Southampton have sealed a deal to sign Feyenoord midfielder Jordy Clasie, who played under Ronald Koeman for three years at the Rotterdam-based club.
The 24-year-old moves to St Mary’s for a transfer fee that is believed to be worth up to £8.5million and has been signed as a direct replacement for Morgan Schneiderlin, who completed his move to Manchester United earlier this week.
Clasie came through Feyenoord’s youth system and helped the team to second-place finishes in the Eredivisie in 2011/12 and 2013/14.
He scored eight goals in 155 first-team appearances for the Dutch side during his spell at De Kuip and has also been capped 11 times by the Netherlands, including two appearances at last summer’s World Cup finals in Brazil.
Clasie said: “It feels good to be joining Southampton. It’s a nice club and I’m happy to be here. It’s a big club playing in what I think is the biggest and most important league.
“Ronald Koeman being here is a big thing for me and that was important in me coming here but, even if he wasn’t here, I’d have come to this club.”
Since the end of last season Koeman has signed Juanmi, Cedric Soares, Cuco Martina and now Clasie, while Maarten Stekelenburg has also arrived on loan from Fulham.
Meanwhile, Schnederlin and Nathaniel Clyne have left St Mary’s this summer.
Southampton are 12/1 to clinch a top-four Premier League finish in the 2015/16 campaign and 7/5 to win their first game of the season on August 9 at Newcastle United.
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