Southampton have confirmed the signing of goalkeeper Alex McCarthy from Premier League rivals Crystal Palace for an undisclosed fee.
The shot-stopper, 26, joins the Saints on a three-year-deal having experienced a difficult year at Selhurst Park which saw him lose his place as first choice goalkeeper to Wayne Hennessey.
Goalkeeping errors result of tough time at Selhurst Park for new Saints man
McCarthy began the season in the Palace starting eleven but a string of unforgivable errors led to him being replaced by the Welshman in October. An injury to Hennessey in March paved the way for McCarthy to return to the team in a fixture against Liverpool, however, a slip gifted Roberto Firmino a goal and the Reds went on to win the game, while also cementing McCarthy’s place further down the pecking order.
Palace’s capture of experienced French international Steve Mandanda from Marseille meant McCarthy would have been the Eagles' third choice this season so a fresh start, despite only joining Palace last summer, was ultimately inevitable.
McCarthy becomes Puel’s third summer signing
The departure of Paulo Gazzaniga on loan to Rayo Vallecano last week left Saints boss Claude Puel with an important goalkeeping void to fill just two weeks before the beginning of the season. Kelvin Davis’ retirement at the end of last season left Fraser Forster as the only first team goalkeeper at St Mary’s and Puel swooped quickly to secure the services of McCarthy.
The former Reading and Queens Park Rangers goalkeeper becomes Puel’s third first team summer signing, following midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and winger Nathan Redmond through the door at the Staplewood training ground.
Speaking to Southampton’s official website, the lure of playing for a “big club” was McCarthy's main reason for joining, while he also stated that he was “looking forward to playing in the Europa League”, which the Saints will compete in for the second successive season.