Saints have completed the signing of goalkeeper Alex McCarthy.

The 26-year-old has signed a three-year contract after joining from Crystal Palace for a fee of around £2m.

McCarthy comes in as back-up for Fraser Forster, with Paulo Gazzaniga having joined Rayo Vallecano on a season long loan.

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 added: "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.”

The stopper, Saints’ third summer signing, was a developing player with Wimbledon and Wycombe before moving to Reading.

McCarthy had loan spells with Woking, 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.