UK Edition
Southampton make Mario Lemina record signing in £18m deal with Juventus
Southampton have broken their transfer record to complete the £18 million signing of Juventus midfielder Mario Lemina and remain resolute in their stance that Virgil van Dijk will not be sold.
Lemina underwent a medical and completed personal terms in Southampton on a five-year deal after also being tracked by Leicester City, Stoke City, Watford and Arsenal. The 23-year-old was part of the Juventus squad that won both Serie A and the Coppa Italia twice and he also featured in the Champions League final in June against Real Madrid. He joined Juventus for £7.5 million from Marseille in 2015 and had been under consideration by Arsenal scouts but was ultimately not the subject of a bid.
Southampton vice-chairman Les Reed described the acquisition of Lemina as indicative of the club’s ambition and was also critical of some of the wider transfer business across Europe. “Investing in a player of Mario’s quality and buying from a club like Juventus is a significant statement of intent from the club,” said Reed.
“In a volatile market with some extraordinary and inexplicable transfers taking place, we are determined to go about our work in a diligent and correct way. Mario will complement what is already an extremely strong group of midfield players in our squad.” Lemina said that he been especially impressed by what he called the Southampton “project” and he follows Jan Bednarek in becoming the club’s second signing following the appointment of new manager Mauricio Pellegrino.
Southampton now regard their transfer business as largely complete and there is still no compromise on a club decision not to sell any key players.
Although Van Dijk tabled a formal transfer request on Monday, Southampton do not believe that there has been any material change in the situation after he had already privately outline a desire to leave.
Van Dijk signed an improved contract at Southampton only last year and, for all the public escalation in the current stand-off, the club believe that they ultimately remain in control of the situation. The 26-year-old has not played since January following an ankle injury and Southampton’s position is still that he is not for sale.
Van Dijk has claimed that Southampton have consistently rebuffed inquiries about him from “multiple top clubs”. He is now asking them to reconsider - and it is understood that his preferred destination is Liverpool - but they have promised to respect Southampton’s position.
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