Southampton break transfer record to sign Italy striker Osvaldo for £15m



Southampton have completed the signing of Roma striker Pablo Daniel Osvaldo on a four-year contract in a deal which will rise to £15.35million.



The Italy international, who has played nine times for the Azzurri scoring three times, has previously worked with manager Mauricio Pochettino at Espanyol.

Southampton fought off competition from both Tottenham and Fulham to capture Osvaldo on a deal which breaks the previous club transfer record of £12million, which was spent on both Victor Wanyama and Gaston Ramirez.

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£15million man: Southampton have signed Pablo Osvaldo from Italian side Roma

Osvaldo, a former target for Sam Allardyce and Harry Redknapp while in Spain, was reluctant to leave Italy despite falling foul of hardline Roma fans who had sprayed abusive graffiti outside his home.

Inter Milan showed interest while Benfica and Fulham also enquired but they could not match Southampton's offer with Osvaldo being offered around £55,000 a week. Southampton will pay and extra £2m to Roma based on performance bonuses.

Pochettino now has to try and fit the Italian into an attacking role alongside new England striker Rickie Lambert and promising youngsters Adam Lallana, Jay Rodriguez and the Uruguayan Ramirez.

International pedigree: Osvaldo started for Italy in their midweek friendly against Argentina

Competition: Osvaldo will be competing with Rickie Lambert and Jay Rodriguez for a starting spot



The 27-year-old joins Dejan Lovren and Wanyama as summer signings at St Mary's, pushing Southampton's spending up to around £35million this transfer window.

Osvaldo scored 16 goals in Serie A last year, and apart from playing for two seasons at Espanyol in La Liga, he has spent all his time in Europe playing in Italy.

He is expected to be available for Southampton's first home game of the season next Saturday against Sunderland.

And having beaten West Brom thanks to a late Lambert penalty in their opening fixture, he will be joining a squad full on confidence who are looking for at least a top 10 finish.

Acrobatic: The striker played for Roma against Chelsea during their pre-season campaign



