09 August, 2017
Southampton have broken their transfer record to complete the £18 million signing of Juventus midfielder Mario Lemina and remain resolute in their stance that Virgil van Dijk will not be sold.
Saints kick off the new Premier League campaign at home to Swansea on Saturday, and Lemina hopes to be able to hit the ground running.
"I am really happy to have signed for Southampton". He also held talks with Stoke.
The Gabon global, who has nine caps for his country having switched his allegiance away from France, made just 42 appearances in his two years in Turin, and he will now hope to become a key player with Southampton.
Lemina joined Juventus from French giants Marseille in 2015 and managed 42 appearances for the Bianconeri.
Pellegrino snagged Jan Bednarek from Lech Poznan for an undisclosed fee, the 21-year-old centre-half being seen as a future star for the club, with youthful enthusiasm - matched with Lemina's arrival - being a priority for the Argentinian boss as he vies to construct a squad for the future.
Les Reed, Southampton's vice-chairman of football, said: "Mario is an outstanding talent who has already achieved a great deal in his career, winning a number of titles and gaining experience of playing on some of the biggest stages in world football". The defender handed in a transfer request on Monday, saying he wanted a new challenge and that he was "insulted" by suggestions he had refused to train.
The transfer is the Hornets' sixth major signing of the summer and is just shy of the club record £13m they paid to take Uruguay forward Roberto Pereyra from Juventus a year ago. This is a player who has won trophies and played in the Champions League final less than three months ago and he has signed for Saints amid a host of suitors.
