Southampton have signed midfielder, Finn Azaz from Middlesbrough in a £15m transfer.
Azaz’s move comes after a bright start to the season for the 24 year-old with an assist and goal in away wins at Millwall and Norwich respectively.
His performances however caught Southampton’s eye and the Saints agreed a £15m deal with Boro for the midfielder, which consisted of a £12m fixed fee plus £3m in add-ons, as Azaz leaves Middlesbrough with 17 goals in 68 appearances.
Azaz has signed a four-year contract at St Mary’s and is excited to make the move after extensive discussions.
“It feels amazing. Obviously it’s been talked about for a little while, and I’m really happy to be here.
“I’m really, really excited to prove I can play for a Premier League club. I know we’re in the Championship now, but we’re trying to operate at Premier League level to ultimately get promoted, win the league and get back to the Premier League.”
Azaz began his career at West Brom within their youth academy but failed to break through into the senior team amidst three goals in 44 appearances on loan at Cheltenham in 2020-21 season.
He subsequently moved to Aston Villa in July 2021 but was immediately loaned out to Newport County where he scored seven goals in 45 appearances, which earned him the League Two Young Player of the Season Award at the 2022 EFL Awards.
A 18-month loan spell at Plymouth followed which yielded 15 goals in 67 appearance and promotion from League One to the Championship, before Middlesbrough signed him in January 2024 in a move which saw him net four goals and create two assists in 20 appearances in his first six months on Teesside.
Azaz went on to produce 12 goals and 11 assists last season in Boro’s last campaign under manager, Michael Carrick who was sacked in June, and subsequently replaced by Rob Edwards.
The Irish midfielder has one goal in seven senior international caps for Republic of Ireland following his debut in March 2024 as a substitute in a 1-0 friendly loss to Switzerland, whilst his sole goal came in March 2025 away in a 2-1 victory over Bulgaria.
Leave a Reply