Southampton officially announce the signing of São Paulo and Valenciennes defenders Welington and Joachim Kayi Sanda..

Southampton announced on its official website on Thursday that the club has signed Brazil U23s international left wing-back Welington and France U19s international center back Joachim Kayi Sanda from São Paulo and Valenciennes respectively.

According to Southampton's official statement, Welington and Kayi Sanda have signed on a long-term four-and-a-half-year deal with the club which runs until the summer of 2029. Welington will wear the No. 34 jersey and Kayi Sanda will wear the No. 39 jersey.

After completing his joining procedures, Welington, who was interviewed by Southampton's official website for the first time, said: "I am very happy to be here to represent this club. I am very happy to be here to play in the Premier League."

"Every time I step on the pitch, I will give my best so that the team can count on me."

"I will do everything I can to help, both on and off the pitch. The fans can trust that I will always give everything for the team wholeheartedly. As long as I am here, I will fight for this club."

"I will do everything I can to add glory to this jersey. In the short time I have been here, it has been a unique experience for me to be with my teammates and wear this jersey."

"The fans can expect the best from me and I am sure we will have a lot of fun here."

Kayi Sanda said: "I didn't plan for it to come so soon, but as a professional goal, playing in the Premier League has always been in my mind and I achieved it very early."

"I started playing football at a very young age with Antony, Antony is my hometown, where my parents still live. I played there until U15s level. Then I moved to another club in Paris, Boulogne-Billancourt, where I had a successful season."

"Then I signed for Valenciennes, Southampton’s feeder club, where I spent two years as a youth player and then a-year-and-a-half in the first team. I felt very confident because I had been working for this my entire youth."

"I was ready for the challenge, even though it wasn’t easy. I worked hard and put my head down, which allowed me to play football at such a young age, make my family proud and go down in the history of the club."

"I started playing football as a teenager and now I’m 18, so I think it helped me improve in all aspects: physically, tactically, technically and even in my understanding. I’m very attentive, which helped me then and continues to help me now."

It is worth mentioning that Welington and Kayi Sanda will be the first two new players signed by Southampton’s new head coach Ivan Juric.

About Welington

Welington, now only 23 years old, was born on February 19, 2001 in São Paulo, Brazil. He is 1.7 meters tall and plays as a left-wing back.

Welington joined São Paulo's youth academy at a young age and completed his São Paulo first-team debut by coming on as a substitute in March 2020.

During his four-year spell at São Paulo, Wellington played 164 times for the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A giants in all competitions, scored 2 goals, assisted 11 times, during which he has won the Copa do Brasil once, the Supercopa do Brasil once and the Campeonato Paulista once with the club.

About Joachim Kayi Sanda

Joachim Kayi Sanda, now only 18 years old, was born on November 29, 2006 in Antony, France. He is 1.86 meters tall and plays as a center back. He has France and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Kayi Sanda played for the youth academy of local non-league clubs in Antony when he was young. In 2020, he joined the youth academy of Boulogne-Billancourt. He moved to the Valenciennes youth academy the following year and completed his Valenciennes first-team debut in October 2023, where he is the youngest player in the club's history.

During his two-year spell at Valenciennes, Kayi Sanda played 38 times for the Championnat National club in all competitions without scoring any goals or making any assists.