Virgil van Dijk joins Southampton on five-year contract

Tuesday 1 September 2015 22:01, UK

Southampton have confirmed the signing of Virgil van Dijk from Celtic.

The Dutch centre-half joins on a five-year contract for a fee Sky sources understand is in the region of £11.5m.

He told Southampton's website: "I'm delighted. It was a very easy decision. This is a very ambitious club, who have been doing very well in the last couple of years. It's a great place to be and it's the right step for me.

"For me now to get the opportunity to play in the Premier League is unbelievable and I will enjoy it. I know it's an ambitious club - they have been through a lot throughout the years. They are trying to play football and that's something that really attracted me.

"I'm so excited. I hope to settle in really quick, get everything around football sorted, start playing and enjoying it because the most important thing in football is to have fun and enjoy every day."

Van Dijk cost Celtic £2.6m two summers ago when he was bought from Groningen, where Saints forward Dusan Tadic was among his team-mates.

The 24-year-old went on to make more than 100 appearances and was part of the side that last month missed out on the Champions League group stage for the second year running.

That defeat to Malmo was a key factor in the timing of his departure, according to St Mary's director of football Les Reed, who said: "We're delighted to have finally got Virgil into the club after long and lengthy negotiations.

"We've had Virgil in our system for a long time and have explored the possibility of signing him in previous transfer windows, and this year we had a really strong opportunity to do it.

"The Champions League had an effect on the moment of release, which we were aware of, so it was about keeping our focus and doing our due diligence before eventually getting him over the line."

A Celtic statement said they "did absolutely everything we could to keep Virgil at the club", including offering him a new contract.

Van Dijk said: "I know Celtic did not want me to leave and wanted to extend my contract. The club did everything to keep me and I appreciate that but I felt the time was right for a new challenge in the Premier League.

"I thank everyone at the club, the manager and all the staff and I wish Celtic and the fans the very best for the future."

Van Dijk is Southampton's eighth signing of the summer and will compete with Steven Caulker, Maya Yoshida and Jose Fonte for first-team football.