Southampton confirm £15m capture of Manchester City youngster Shea Charles

Southampton have confirmed the signing of Shea Charles from Manchester City for £15m.

The 19-year-old midfielder has joined on a four-year deal.

Saints have made Charles the second signing of new manager Russell Martin's tenure following the acquisition of free agent Ryan Manning.

Mail Sport reported last week that last season's Premier League basement boys would sign the youngster, who has eight Northern Ireland caps.

He made his debut on the final day of last season, coming on as a substitute in a 1-0 defeat at Brentford.

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Charles links up with the much-coveted Romeo Lavia, Samuel Edozie and Juan Larios, who also joined Saints from City, though the deal is said to include a sell-on clause with a buy-back option for City.

He joins as Saints brace themselves to lose James Ward-Prowse and potentially Lavia.

Martin said: 'Shea is a very talented, intelligent and mature young player with great potential to develop his game with us.

'He has been well schooled at Manchester City, coming through an elite Academy all the way to the first team. We've watched him closely and we're confident he's got the right attributes to help us in the way we're going to play.'

Charles, who joined City's academy as a seven-year-old, said: 'I feel like the main thing is promotion for this club, because we belong in the Premier League. I can't wait to start pre-season and get into the Championship games.'

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