SAINTS have announced the signing of Kyle Walker-Peters on a six-month loan from Tottenham.

The St Mary’s side beat off competition to land the 22-year-old defender, although they won’t have the option buy him in the summer.

Walker-Peters was identified early on as Saints knew he was available and suits what manager Ralph Hasenhuttl was searching for.

Hasenhuttl wanted a full-back who is capable of providing cover for both Cedric and Ryan Bertrand on either side of the defence.

Walker-Peters has experience of playing both sides for Spurs where, at one point, he was widely tipped to be Kyle Walker’s successor.

Speaking about joining Saints, the defender said: “On a personal note I'm just grateful for the opportunity I've been given by the manager and the club.

“I come here looking to help the club improve and improve myself. I just want to win as many games as possible and enjoy playing football.

“I had a chat with the manager and he assured me I was the type of player he liked and I got that feeling from watching Southampton that I could fit in well.”

The 22-year-old has featured just five times for the White Hart Lane side this season, with his last appearance coming in a Champions League defeat to Bayern Munich in December.

However, it’s likely he’ll be in contention to go straight into Saints’ starting XI for the game against runaway leaders Liverpool this weekend.

Cedric is still nursing a knee ligament injury that looks set to keep him out of action for up to three weeks.

Yan Valery is also still recovering from a nasty viral infection, although he is well on his way to making his Saints comeback.

Hasenhuttl previously said that he’d prefer to bring someone in on loan if the club were to have an option to land him permanently at the end of the temporary spell.

But that’s not the case with Walker-Peters.

Crystal Palace were also fighting to try and sign the 22-year-old right-back with Spurs allowing the player to decide where he wanted to ply his trade for the next six months.

Regarding Walker-Peters' arrival, Hasenhuttl said: “I am very pleased to have Kyle with us for the rest of the season. He is a talented young player, with good defensive and attacking qualities.

“It was clear this month that we could use additional support in the full-back positions, and Kyle was exactly the profile of player I was hoping we could bring in.

“He will be a good addition to our squad, and we are pleased that he has chosen to join us ahead of a number of other clubs who were interested in signing him.”