Saints appear to have beaten off a late challenge from Everton for the signature of Mislav Oršić the Croatian international from Dynamo Zagreb. full details here.
Saints have made their first signing of the January transfer window and how we could have done with him on Wednesday night against Nottingham Forest, in the person of Mislav Oršić .
The winger has joined on a 2 1/2 year contract and having turned 30 last week dispels the notions amongst some Saints supporters that the club's owners will only sign young players who they will be able to turn a profit on going forward.
OrÅ¡ić played a full part in Croatia's path to the semi finals of the recent World Cup, n the quarter-final against Brazil, OrÅ¡ić provided Bruno Petković with the assist for Croatia's extra time equaliser, taking the match to a penalty shootout. OrÅ¡ić would score his penalty in the shootout, the final Croatian spot-kick before Marquinhos' miss, which sent Croatia to the semi-finals for the second consecutive World Cup. OrÅ¡ić then scored the winning goal in the third place play-off against Morocco, which ended 2—1.
He has been at Dinamo Zagreb for the last four-and-a-half-years spell helping them win the top-flight HNL title in each of the past four years, while also becoming their leading European scorer of all time, with 28 goals across the Champions League and Europa League.
In total, Oršić made 216 appearances during his time with Dinamo Zagreb, scoring at a remarkable rate, with 91 goals for the club.
Southampton manager Nathan Jones said:
"Mislav is a significant addition to our squad and I’m delighted we have been able to get him in so quickly this month.
"He’s a serious attacking threat and I’m sure anyone who has followed his progress or saw what he achieved at the World Cup will realise the talent he has. We’re excited to have him here.”
Mislav Oršić said:
"I feel very happy to be here, I think it’s a dream for every football player to come to play in the Premier League and I’m here, I’m ready, I’m motivated and I hope that I will help the team to achieve their goals.
"When I come here to the camp, it’s amazing, and I’m sure I will really enjoy my time here. Now it’s a little bit of a difficult situation for the club, but I think we need to stay together. We have only one plan — everybody to stay in the Premier League. We need to work hard every day and I hope that at the end of the year we will be happy.”