Southampton sign Boufal from Lille

Southampton have announced the transfer of Sofiane Boufal for a club-record fee from Lille.

The 22-year-old attacking midfielder has signed a five-year deal at St Mary’s after moving for an undisclosed fee.

The Moroccan scored 12 goals in all competitions last season for Lille and was delighted with the move, making him the sixth signing by Southampton this summer after Nathan Redmond (Norwich City), Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (Bayern Munich), Alex McCarthy (Crystal Palace), Jeremy Pied (Nice) and Stuart Taylor. 

“I hope I can achieve many great things with Southampton,” he told saintsfc.co.uk. “It is a very good club, with excellent facilities, and I feel it is the perfect environment to continue my development.”

Les Reed, the Southampton executive director of football, suggested that Boufal might struggle to feature in their next league match, away to Arsenal on Saturday, 10 September, as he builds up his fitness.

See: Reed on Boufal's talent