Mohammed Salisu has completed his transfer to Southampton after putting pen to paper on a 4-year deal at St. Mary’s.

The 21-year-old central defender joins from Real Valladolid after the Saints triggered his £10.9 million release clause.

Ralph Hasenhuttl had looked at buying the Ghanaian in January, but after completing his second season in Spain the Saints moved quickly to get the deal done.

An exciting prospect

“This is an important signing for us,” boss Hasenhuttl told southamptonfc.com. “Mohammed is a player who fits our profile well. He is young and has a great amount of potential, but he is also someone who has the qualities to come in and help the team as soon as he is up to speed with our way of playing.

“I like what I have seen of him so far in his games with Valladolid. He is strong defensively, he is calm with the ball – something that is important in our team – and he has good speed too.

“I think he will fit in well with us and that this will be a good place for him to develop his game further. We have some good centre-backs here and this will be another strong option for us.”

Salisu’s rise to prominence has been a swift one, having only left his homeland two years ago to move to the La Liga outfit, where, after one campaign with their second team, he was promoted to the first team – shoring up their defence impressively and becoming a regular as they enjoyed a solid 2019/20 campaign.

"A dream come true"

It was enough to prompt the Saints into acquiring his talents, and the move to the Premier League is one that the young Ghana defender says is a dream come true.

“For me, it has been a dream since I was a child to play in the Premier League and I am very, very happy to be here,” Salisu told southamptonfc.com. “We all know it is a very tough league, but I am ready for everything to put all I can into helping the team.

“It is a very good feeling to be a Southampton player. I am very happy to be part of the club and I am looking forward to starting here.

“It’s a very good club for me to develop my skills and to learn a lot as a young player and I’m very happy to join. Southampton has a fantastic history in developing young players and I hope I do my best to add to that group.”

COVID-19 delay

The move for Salisu has not been a typical one, though, with the COVID-19 pandemic adding a layer of complication. But with the formalities now complete, he his looking forward to getting to work with his new team-mates.

“It has been very strange. As we all know, the virus has created a lot of damages, and for me this is the first time I can’t go home,” he added.

“Now I am in quarantine and I hope I will come out next week and will start training with the first team and I will be very happy to meet my new team-mates. I am looking forward to starting and getting to know everyone in the team.”