Southampton: 'Quality' £47k-a-week star 'an impressive signing' at St Mary's

Southampton have pulled off an ‘impressive signing’ in the shape of defender Duje Caleta-Car, according to journalist Dean Jones.

The 25-year-old was brought in from Marseille on transfer deadline day, fending off competition from fellow Premier League outfit West Ham United in the process.

It was a hectic end to a busy summer for Southampton, who brought in Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Juan Larios and Sam Edozie alongside Caleta-Car on Thursday.

And manager Ralph Hasenhuttl appeared to be particularly pleased with the capture of the centre-back, who signed a four-year contract with the south coast club upon his arrival.

“Duje is already a very established and experienced player, who has done an impressive job at his previous clubs,” said the Austrian tactician.

“He is a big presence on the pitch, and he will bring even more quality into our centre-back group. It is important we have good depth and options in this position, and he gives us another very strong one.”

Caleta-Car signed for an undisclosed fee after entering the final year of his £47,000-per-week contract with Marseille and will replace Jan Bednarek, who joined Aston Villa on a season-long loan deal.

Southampton have often targeted young signings in recent years, bringing in the likes of Tino Livramento, Romeo Lavia and Gavin Bazunu.

Yet Caleta-Car is set to enter his prime years, and Jones believes he is a player of ‘major quality’, giving the Saints fans reasons to get excited.

He told GiveMeSport: “West Ham would have been expecting Saints to secure Caleta-Car as they discovered he was a long way down the road in negotiating with them. This is a player of major quality and is an impressive signing.”

Caleta-Car has racked up 19 goal contributions in 297