SAINTS veteran Maya Yoshida has left the club on the final day of the transfer window to join Italian side Sampdoria on a six-month loan.
Yoshida, who arrived at St Mary’s in 2012, was due to become a free agent in the summer, although Saints did have the option to trigger an additional year.
It’s understood Sampdoria will pay the south coast side around £3m, which includes both a small loan fee and his wages.
The Italian club’s late interest came as a surprise to Saints, as it happened just before they were about to depart for Liverpool.
Yoshida’s arrival at St Mary’s coincided with their promotion back into the Premier League under Nigel Adkins’ guidance.
The Japanese international made his debut in the 6-1 defeat to Arsenal.
A Saint forever 😇
— Southampton FC (@SouthamptonFC) January 31, 2020
From all of us at #SaintsFC, thank you for an incredible seven-and-a-half years, @MayaYoshida3! ❤️
We wish you every success in the future. pic.twitter.com/JQsPGXWjLw
He went on to become the club’s captain and has made 184 appearances, scoring nine goals.
And because of his lengthy service, Saints were happy to let him leave on good terms so that he could start playing regularly.
Yoshida didn’t just make an impact on the pitch, though.
The 31-year-old has made a fantastic donation off it to help the local community in Southampton.
At the start of this season, he pledged to donate one per cent of his annual salary to the Saints Foundation.
But before he made that commitment, Yoshida helped the club’s charity out as often as he could and would often turn up at their events.
By joining Sampdoria, the former Saints captain will be reunited with ex-teammate Manolo Gabbiadini.
Gabbiadini signed for the Serie A outfit last January after he was unable to force his way into Ralph Hasenhuttl’s starting XI.
Yoshida will also be managed by a former Premier League manager.
Claudio Ranieri, who won the title with Leicester in 2016, took charge of the team in October last year.
Sampdoria are currently five points above the relegation zone and have won just one game out of their previous five.
Yoshida could make his debut for his new side against Napoli on Monday.
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