Saints have missed out on signing Belgium international Toby Alderweireld after he completed his controversial transfer to Tottenham this morning for a fee of £11.5million.

The saga surrounding the signature of the 25-year-old, who impressed on loan at St Mary's last season from Atletico Madrid, had rumbled on for weeks, with many twists and turns.

But Spurs have now officially announced Alderweireld's arrival at White Hart Lane on their Twitter feed, with the popular defender signing a five-year deal.

"I’m very proud to be a Tottenham player," Alderweireld said. "I’m happy to be here and hope to have a wonderful time with this team."

During the last few days, Saints still believed they had the right to sign Alderweireld for £6.8m after Atletico failed to buy out a clause in the loan contract before the specified date.

As has been widely reported, there was a £1.5m cancellation fee for that deal, but Saints say Atletico missed a deadline to prevent that deal from taking place, and therefore believed they were entitled to complete a permanent deal.

It will be a bitter blow to Saints that Alderweireld has moved Tottenham after manager Ronald Koeman reiterated his interest in the highly rated defender earlier this week and stated that St Mary's was the best place for him.

It remains unclear whether or not they will pursue further legal action regarding the deal.

Alderweireld tweeted: "Very excited to join @SpursOfficial. Looking fwd to this but also looking back @ a great @SouthamptonFC season. Great club & fans! Thanks!"

 

He admitted that he had heard a lot about Spurs from the Belgian contingent at the club and was keen to join them.

"From the beginning I knew a lot about the club from Jan Vertonghen, Mousa Dembele and Nacer Chadli," he said.

"It’s nice when you join and know a couple of players. I hope to get to know them a little better now!”