"Ryan is a young, attacking full-back and will fit in perfectly with the club’s philosophy and style of play."

"This is another important step forward in terms of rebuilding our first-team squad with exciting English talent at its core."

"I’m very happy to be able to bring Ryan in."

"I spoke to him on Monday afternoon and I was very impressed with his attitude and how keen he was to play games for Southampton."

"He is a top player who will bring a lot of quality to the team. He has experience at the highest level and is an exciting, attacking player, which is what I like to see in my full-backs."

“The situation became clear to me before I went on loan to Aston Villa (last season). I was getting those 15, 20, 25, 30-plus games a season, until I hit a stumbling block.”

“That’s when the alarm bells rang. Before that, I had a chance to move from the club, but I was advised that I didn’t need to do that.”

“It all unravelled in front of my eyes, and certain things didn’t make sense in terms of what certain people had said to me. All I ask for is honesty, and I didn’t get that.”

“I wanted to be in a situation where the club is looking for the same things. In a way, me as a person and Southampton as a football club are quite similar. We’re both striving to do great things.”