Saints have announced that Yoshida has signed a new contract at St Mary's keeping him at the club till 2020.

The Press release announcing the deal announced that the defender, who joined Saints five seasons ago, today penned a fresh agreement that runs until the summer of 2020.

it continued that Yoshida has been an important part in Saints’ success since he arrived at St Mary’s in 2012, making 138 appearances for the team to date. and that last season, he became the first Japanese player to play 100 Premier League games, and is now set to remain an integral part of the Southampton squad in the coming years.

Vice Chairman (Football) Les Reed said:

“We are extremely pleased to have reached a new agreement with Maya, who is a vital part of our squad, not only on the pitch, but off it."

“Maya is a player who has taken great strides in his game during his time with us, and his influence was felt particularly last season, as he formed outstanding partnerships with both Virgil van Dijk and Jack Stephens, helping the team reach the EFL Cup final."

“Maya is an excellent example for any young professional to follow and it was important to ensure that we extended our commitment with him."

“We are excited about the depth we now possess at the centre-back position for the years ahead, with Maya’s new deal strengthening our excellent group even further for the coming seasons.”

Maya Yoshida commented:

"There was no reason to leave the club. I have been here for five years. In that time, I have had difficult moments, good moments — everything."

"I feel like it's my home and I'm very happy to continue my journey with Southampton. It's a new chapter for my career."

Whilst it is good to see Yoshida rewarded for his contribution and loyalty over the past few seasons and to be straight he has made a significant contribution, it does mean that Saints are top heavy in the central defender department with the problem being that we are short on quality if Van Dijk leaves even though we will not be short on quantity.

In Van Dijk and Hoedt you have two quality central defenders, but Yoshida, Stephens, Gardos and now Bedarek are not Premier quality as anything more than back up and four backs us is an awful lot to have.

Photo: Action Images

dixiefrog added 15:22 - Aug 24 Great reward for a true professional. Whilst those around him are losing their heads, Yoshi continues to conduct himself with good grace, humour and an entirely professional disposition. Many have a downer on him but I wish we had a few more like him.
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ChristchurchSaint added 15:43 - Aug 24 Good news, as Dixie has said, a lot of people have a downer on him, but his professionalism is second to none. I will be interested to see how Maya and Jack settle alongside Hoedt, hopefully we will all be pleasantly surprised!
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highfield49 added 15:43 - Aug 24 Having on occasions been one of Yoshi's severe critics I have to say that he has earned his new contract by sheer effort and professionalism. I also suspect that the club realises Bednarek is a long way off being ready for top level football and they really cannot afford to lose Yoshi in this window or next year.
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LondonSaint added 15:57 - Aug 24 Also pleased with this but the article is right to question our CB situation. Obviously the VVD uncertainty has meant we've overloaded ourselves just in case, but I for one would've preferred Terry on a one year contract (purely to distil a winners mentality into our young players) over Bednarek who has come from a lesser team/league and won't have a chance to get the game time needed to improve i.e. Mayuka, Juanmi, Gardos or Forren. I hope we aren't overloading our squad with unremarkable CD's in the same way we have with CM's. I am also surprised that the club haven't done any physical work on Stephens over the summer. I think with a bit more bulk, more game time and a lot more confidence he could really jump to the next level in a similar vein to Maguire at Leicester who lets not forget was struggling with Sheffield United in L1 not long ago.

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aceofthebase added 16:17 - Aug 24 give it a break Nick! another derogatory remark about Yoshida who has been outstanding for us and is certainly of premiership quality. It does appear that our new boy Bednarek is not good enough and perhaps we should farm him out. I hope that our other new boy Hoedt is not another disappointment, we seem to think that he will slot into the side on a par with VVD. Time will tell.

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Sanguin added 16:19 - Aug 24 Happy Birthday Maya!! I've been very critical of Yoshida in the past, but I think in the past season he has stepped up his game and is now Premier League quality, still not top six quality but a solid player. I think Stephens is getting there and Bednarek still has a long way to go. I see no place for Gardos. Hopefully Hoedt and van Dijk will form a solid partnership this season and we'll be able to reassess our options next year.

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derbydog added 16:30 - Aug 24 Never mind Nick, maybe he is also signing with the Wasserman Group!
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Jesus_02 added 17:00 - Aug 24 I actually rate Yoshida pretty highly, his ability to step in over the last few years has been testament to his professionalism. A good defender is exemplified by his ability to maintain confidence and concentration for the whole match. This isn’t something that can be easily switched on an off or even effectively trained. Now he has had a run of games we are beginning to understand his actual performance level. On a side note Bednareck was awful and as well as having too many below par defenders we also have too many average midfielder. I expect that we bought Boufal in with the expectation of someone bidding for Tadic.

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1970 added 17:05 - Aug 24 all the comments above about Yoshi are spot on except the bit about being outstanding the truth is if you know anything about football you will know he is at best average in the championship but his value for us in Japan is price-less but as mentioned if we had a few more with his enthusiasm we'd be top of the table
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underweststand added 17:29 - Aug 24 I've felt sorry for Maya for several seasons. I don't feel that he's had afair chance to show his quality, but was inevitably 3rd choice behind a succession of Fonte, Lovren, Alderweireld and Van Dijk, and Koeman's insistance on playing him as a an emergency right back was not a good move, and was plain to see. However, since Janury he has (IMHO)... been one of the most consistant players in the squad. I still see a spot for him if Pellegrino decides on a 3-5-2 formation.

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SanMarco added 18:22 - Aug 24 This guarantees that the Yoshi debate will run for a while yet then.... He is a good pro with a great attitude and I am delighted to see him as a back-up. He doesn't have the authority or presence at the centre of the defence to make him a first choice in a top premier team. He is a good player and has improved (got rid of the worst of his errors - said he tempting fate) but he is not a great player and even his greatest admirers weren't worried that a top 7 team would come in for him.

2

TeamCortese added 19:04 - Aug 24 This is brilliant news and well deserved. If you spoke to me about Yoshi 3-4 years ago I would have been one of the first to offer him a ticket back to Japan. However, given our defence situation and his level of professionalism and consistency I'd be one of the last to do so today. I hope Yoshi keeps up the good form and I'm glad the club has repaid him for his loyalty. I personally think the jury's out on Forster. He's been dropped by the England team and hasn't been given sufficient competition for last couple of seasons. Why McCarthy wasn't picked yesterday is beyond me? He obviously can't be that good if he's not being picked for League cup match... We should really look for another GK to give him competition before the window shuts. Also does anyone know the situation with Hojberg, Clasie, Sims and Long?

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Consigliere added 20:43 - Aug 24 Good. I have regularly posted in support of Yoshida, who I rank highly for his professionalism, loyalty to the cause , enthusiasm and dogged determination. When heads go down he encourages his team-mates and there have been times when he has been the only man in red trying to win the match. He has suffered unfair criticism for his mistakes, been asked to play in unfamiliar positions and cover for the inadequacies of others and he has done this with good grace and without complaining. He has also become a much better player over the course of the last year. As others say, he may not be the top defender in the league but if we had 11 men on the pitch with his attitude we would be invincible.

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bstokesaint added 20:57 - Aug 24 Nick, give it a rest. Yoshida's biggest criticism has always been his switching off and after a run of games he's reduced those errors. He's a leader, he's a top pro with a good attitude, he's often a goal threat (although he could score more - but he won us the game against WH) and his pace often goes unnoticed (he's actually one of the quickest players in the PL) , often getting us out of trouble. It feels like you attribute our recent slump to one player, when virtually everyone else can see our front men are faltering. Let's be honest if star man VVD was playing and Yoshi partnering him no one would be saying much about the CB situation. I think Yoshi is better than Fonte.

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Letiss7 added 21:32 - Aug 24 Nick, how wrong you have been with Yoshida, and in time Stephens will also do the same. Somewhere along the line you need to admit you have been proved wrong, and man up. A lot of supporters have, me included.
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steve73 added 22:41 - Aug 24 Great news. We can groan about his shortcomings from time to time (I know I have!) but he's a good player and you can't question his commitment to the team, the fans or the club. He's taken us to his heart and I'm glad he's been rewarded for it. There's a few that could learn a thing or two from him. The Japanese Benali 💪
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VancouverSaint added 04:07 - Aug 25 Consigliere, you are spot on. He's a professional that gets on with his game. Forget the bullsh*t from the stands, press, he gives out his best each game. He has matured. If we loose him, we may regret it. Keep up the good work Maya.
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SaintBrock added 10:15 - Aug 25 Did you get your invite to the signing ceremony, Nick?
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halftimeorange added 12:50 - Aug 25 If Davis could score given the opportunities he has, if Tadic could keep going for ninety minutes and not fall over, if Boufal would beat his man only once rather than until he gives the ball away, if Redmond would stop moaning at his teammates and beat his man at least two or three times in a game and if any one of the aforementioned would look up, see and endeavour to make something of Manolo's intelligent runs then Yoshida (and Stephens) would not be under constant pressure throughout each game. Yoshida (and Stephens) both contribute more to our attacks than any of our so-called attacking midfielders. Yoshi deserves his contract.

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AussieSaint added 13:25 - Aug 25 I think Maya's professionalism has been top notch and something to look up the whole time he has been with Saints. I can't remember a time he has slipped up in the last eight months and has shown great loyalty to Southampton. He always fronted up to the press when we lost as well. We march on!
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davepid added 13:25 - Aug 25 Spot on halftime orange . He got us the winning penalty against WHU. Without that we would be feeling pretty low today .
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