(Football news) Southampton have signed midfielder Carlos Alcaraz from Racing Club. The Saints were keen to make some reinforcements to their first-team squad this month as they aim to move out of the Premier League relegation zone. They have already signed Croatia international Mislav Orsic who became Nathan Jones’s first signing at St Mary’s last week, but the 49-year-old has made it clear that they are in the market for another ‘three or four’ players before the January transfer window closes.

According to journalist Cesar Luis Melo, Southampton have reached an agreement with Racing Club to sign the talented 20-year-old Alvarez for an initial fee of €14m (£12.3m) plus a €1m add ons (£880,000) as performance-related bonuses. Melo added that the midfielder is set to sign a four-and-a-half-year contract at St Mary’s until June 2027 and will fly to Southampton to undergo his medical on Tuesday. Racing Club have included a 15% sell-on clause in Southampton’s deal for Alcaraz, who attracted interest from Inter Milan and Benfica but choose to play in the Premier League.

Born in La Plata, Alcaraz joined the Racing Club’s youth academy in 2017 before he made his professional debut for the first team in January 2020. The midfielder has since played 83 times for the senior team across all competitions and has scored 12 goals and registered six assists. In his last match for Racing Club, Alcaraz scored the winning goal to help his team secure a 2-1 extra-time victory against Boca Juniors in the final of the 2022 Trofeo de Campeones de la Liga and he was one of 10 players who was also sent off at the end of a fiery contest.

Alcaraz completed his move to St Mary as the youngster will compete with the likes of James Ward-Prowse, Romeo Lavia, Ibrahima Diallo and Ainsley Maitland-Niles for a place in centre-midfield. Southampton are also keeping tabs on Celtic forward Daizen Maeda and are said to have had a £15m bid rejected for Lorient striker Terem Moffi. It looks like the Saints will be looking to sign a striker as the goals upfront have dried up.

Asked about potential incomings following Southampton’s 2-1 win over Crystal Palace in the FA Cup on Saturday, Jones said: “It’s not the amount, it’s the quality of what we do. So there won’t be 10, but if we can get three or four real quality additions that improve us, then that’s what we want. Because it’ll freshen stuff up and there’s a good group there.”

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