Angus Gunn has become the third acquisition of Southampton's summer transfer window after the prosperous shot-stopper signed a five-year deal with the south coast outfit - joining from Premier League winners Manchester City.
The 22-year-old has signed for the Saints for a reported fee of £13.5 million and follows midfielders Stuart Armstrong and Mohamed Elyounoussi through the door at St. Mary's this last fortnight.
Gunn will be travelling out to China to join up with the first-team squad, who are enjoying a pre-season tour of the Asian country in preparation for the upcoming 2018-19 campaign which gets underway next month.
A future number one?
It is admirably difficult to pinpoint manager Mark Hughes' intentions with the arrival of Gunn, especially considering goalkeeper Alex McCarthy agreed fresh terms on a new four-year contract not too long ago - the question being whether the new man is up to the challenge of pushing the current first choice off his perch.
The former Manchester City youth talent was a talisman for Championship side Norwich last term during a loan spell from the North-West.
Gunn was a mainstay in the starting eleven with 46 appearances in the league whilst gathering an additional five games in other competitions, tallying sixteen clean sheets - an immaculate record for an individual of his age without a doubt.
Despite not featuring in the final 23-man squad for the England national team at this summer's World Cup, the highly-rated goalkeeper was able to train with Gareth Southgate and his men in the lead-up to the tournament; proving his capabilities and true potential that may be fulfilled as a Southampton player.
In total, Gunn has amounted 26 caps for the Three Lions at various youth levels and there has never been any questions regarding his professionalism.
That just more so begs whether he will be able to claim the first-choice 'keeper slot at St. Mary's in the near future - one thing is for certain and that is the fact of Fraser Forster's Saints career looks to be coming to an inevitable end.
“We believe he has all the credentials''
Reports suggested Southampton had been chasing Gunn's signature for some time with Manchester City surprisingly asking for an inconsiderable fee before agreeing a deal with their Premier League counterparts.
Mark Hughes was not stopping at anything until he signed his man.
Upon getting his man, the Saints boss said: “Angus is a player who clearly possesses a tremendous amount of potential, but his performances for Norwich and for the England Under-21 team also demonstrate the capabilities he already has right now.''
The ex-Norwich City player is also tipped to be a regular international for years to come and is highly-regarded by current England manager Gareth Southgate.
“We believe he has all the credentials to become a full international goalkeeper for England in the future, and that’s exactly the sort of talent we want to have here at Southampton,'' Hughes added.
Southampton are also on the verge of completing their fourth signing of the summer as Danish centre-half Jannik Vestergaard of Borussia Monchengladbach.