Southampton have landed goalkeeper Alex McCarthy on a three-year contract, the club announced on Monday.
The 26-year-old signed from rival English Premier League side, Crystal Palace having had previous spells at Reading, Leeds United and Ipswich Town.
“Southampton Football Club is delighted to announce the signing of goalkeeper Alex McCarthy on a three-year contract,” a statement from the club announced.
The former England under-21 is excited by the prospect of appearing for the Saints. Naijabet
“I’m over the moon to join a club like this. The club is known for producing young players and they’ve had successful seasons.
“There’s the Europa League to look forward to this season, so there’s going to be a lot of games.
“With the stature of the club, I’m honoured to be here and I’m looking forward to getting working with everyone,” said McCarthy.
Southampton’s Executive Director of Football, Les Reed, expressed “delight” at the capture of the goalkeeper and talked about having two of English top stoppers in the Saints team.
Reed described McCarthy as “ambitious” with “excellent experience at under-21 level.”
“Once again, I am delighted to welcome another player to the squad at Southampton. We now have two quality English goalkeepers who have both represented the country at international level.
“I am confident that Fraser will soon be England’s number one, and in Alex we have a young player who has already had a taste of the England senior squad, as well as excellent experience at Under-21 level.
“Alex is ambitious and will be pushing for a starting place every time he gets the opportunity, which can only be good for Fraser and a shining example for Harry Lewis and the younger keepers below.
“Working with Dave Watson, our keepers can only get better and, who knows, we could have two Saints stoppers at the World Cup in two years’ time,” Reed said.
McCarthy becomes Southampton’s third signing of the summer and will stay at St Mary’s until the summer of 2019.
The new-signing will now have to compete with the experienced Fraser Forster for a starting place under manager Claude Puel.
