Southampton chief thrilled after beating Arsenal, Man Utd and Everton to £13m transfer

Les Reed thrilled with Virgil van Dijk signing

SOUTHAMPTON executive director of football Les Reed has praised the club's summer transfer activity and called the deadline day signing of Virgil van Dijk from Celtic the 'icing on the cake'.

 

The Dutch defender became the Saints' ninth signing of the summer and Reed was thrilled to complete most of the deals early on.

Of the eight players signed before Van Dijk, only goalkeeper Harry Lewis and defensive midfielder Oriol Romeu joined in August.

All the club's other arrivals, including Cuco Martina, Juanmi, Maarten Stekelenburg, Steven Caulker, Jordy Clasie and Cedric Soares, were signed in July.

Reed said on the club's summer business: "It's a good feeling to finish without any panic or frenzy.

 

"We planned it very, very early. We did all of our research and background stuff, and got started on the business as soon as the transfer window opened."

Reed was particularly pleased with the £13million arrival of Van Dijk, who was also linked with Arsenal, Manchester United and Everton.

"Virgil's the icing on the cake at the end of it, so I'm very, very pleased to have landed him," the former FA technical director added.

"A lot of things about his profile, his age, his potential and his experience fit the bill for the Southampton way.

 

"He's a very deep-thinking footballer, a very intelligent boy and a great character - just what we needed in the dressing room, so he fits the bill in that respect," he added.

"He's 24 so he's got a lot more to come, and we think he'll have a long international career with Holland so we think he'll come to us and develop.

"We've got a good track record of bringing in players who are young and hungry and turning them into top players - and we think that he will do exactly the same."