Southampton have continued their shopping spree from Manchester City's academy with the permanent signing of winger Sam Edozie. The winger, 19, has one senior appearance to his name and has been around senior training for the last year.
However, others have progressed ahead of him, and he did not appear to be in Pep Guardiola's plans this season. So Southampton have swooped for his signature on deadline day, making him their third permanent signing from City's academy this summer after Gavin Bazunu and Romeo Lavia. Southampton will pay up to £10m for Edozie, who signs a five-year deal at St Mary's.
After Bazunu signed for an initial £12m and Lavia for an initial £10.5m, Edozie takes Southampton's summer spending from City to £32.5m, with defender Juan Larios also in line to follow to take that figure closer to £40m. Former City head of academy recruitment Joe Shields took up the post of Saints head of recruitment this summer and has leaned heavily on his former club in his first transfer window.
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England under-19 international Edozie was in the last year of his contract at City, and had been linked with Bayer Leverkusen this summer. He joined from Millwall in 2019.
His exit takes City's academy sales to £40m plus anything gained from Larios, with the overall sales count reaching around £175m. Earlier on transfer deadline day, Claudio Gomes left permanently for sister club Palermo.
He said: “I’m very excited. It’s a great club – a club that likes to play young players, so it’s a very attractive club to come to.
“I used to play with Roméo and Gavin, and they’ve both played a lot, so it’s definitely something at my age in my career that I just want to play as much first-team football as possible. If I’ve got a chance of that here then it’s a great opportunity.”
Saints boss Ralph Hasenhuttl said: “Samuel is another promising young player who brings good attacking qualities to us, and he is someone who fits very well with our philosophy.
“He is a quick player who has impressive technical ability, so he will be able to help our squad immediately, but we also see a lot of potential in him for the future. This is a good opportunity for him, and I know he is excited about the chance to come here and improve.”
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