Thursday, 31st July, 2014



Southampton have confirmed the signing of Liverpool target Ryan Bertrand on a season-long loan deal from Chelsea.

The left-back, who spent the second half of last season on loan at Aston Villa, has been regularly shipped out of Stamford Bridge on similar temporary deals. He was strongly linked with Liverpool this summer, but has ended up at St. Mary's.




Bertrand joined Chelsea’s youth system from Gillingham in 2005 and has had loan stints at Bournemouth, Norwich City and Reading amongst others.

The 24-year-old, who has made 57 appearances for Chelsea, revealed that he had a lot of options, but insisted that he decided to join Southampton in order to play under Saints boss Ronald Koeman.
 


Bertrand also believes his best years are ahead of him and that he is looking forward to playing regularly for the St Mary's Stadium outfit to improve his game.  

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“For me personally, this is another chance to play and a chance to join a fantastic club that’s moving in the right direction”, the defender told Southampton’s official site.

“With the set-up the club’s got, the manager it has coming in and the ethos it has, I thought this was a perfect match.

“The manager’s name speaks for itself, so to play under somebody like that will be good for me. His ethos and the way he plays matches my game.

“I had a lot of options and a lot of interest but, having met the people and spoken to the manager and seen what the club is about, in my mind this was the perfect decision.

“I’m looking to get games and to play regularly in the way and the formation that I like, and I’m sure that will benefit my game. I still think the best is yet to come from me.”

Bertrand, who has a further year left on his present deal with Chelsea, played in the 2012 Champions League final against Bayern Munich, a match which the Blues won on penalties.

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