Through the following official note, Southampton announced having signed English goalkeeper Alex McCarthy (26), who left Crystal Palace after just one season:
"Southampton Football Club is delighted to announce the signing of goalkeeper Alex McCarthy on a three-year contract.
The stopper, who becomes Saints’ third signing of the summer, joins from fellow Premier League club Crystal Palace on a deal that will keep him at St Mary’s until the summer of 2019.
McCarthy, 26, progressed through the youth systems of Wimbledon, Wycombe Wanderers and Reading, before making his senior debut during a loan spell at Woking in 2007.
The goalkeeper had further loan spells with Cambridge United, Team Bath, Aldershot Town, Yeovil Town and Brentford, before making his debut for Reading in February 2011.
After a handful of first-team appearances with the Royals, McCarthy spent the 2011/12 campaign out on loan with Leeds United and then Ipswich Town.
McCarthy, who has been capped three times at England Under-21 level, made his real breakthrough with Reading towards the end of 2012/13 in the Premier League, before becoming a first-team regular during the 2013/14 season.
An excellent season with Reading saw QPR come calling, but after finding first-team football hard to come by at Loftus Road, he moved across London to Crystal Palace for the 2015/16 campaign.
McCarthy now makes the move to St Mary’s, where he will compete with Fraser Forster for a starting spot under new manager Claude Puel.
Executive Director of Football Les Reed said: 'Once again, I am delighted to welcome another player to the squad at Southampton. We now have two quality English goalkeepers who have both represented the country at International level. I am confident that Fraser will soon be England’s number one, and in Alex we have a young player who has already had a taste of the England senior squad, as well as excellent experience at Under-21 level. Alex is ambitious, and will be pushing for a starting place every time he gets the opportunity, which can only be good for Fraser and a shining example for Harry Lewis and the younger keepers below. Working with Dave Watson, our keepers can only get better and, who knows, we could have two Saints stoppers at the World Cup in two years’ time'.
McCarthy said: 'I'm over the moon to join a club like this. The club is known for producing young players and they've had successful seasons. There's the Europa League to look forward to this season, so there's going to be a lot of games. With the stature of the club, I'm honoured to be here and I'm looking forward to getting working with everyone'".
Source: transfermarketweb.com