Southampton confirm departure of £17.6m winger

Southampton midfielder Dusan Tadic has joined Dutch side Ajax for an undisclosed fee, the Premier League club have announced.

Serbia international Tadic, 29, scored 23 goals in over 160 appearances during a four-year spell with Southampton.

“Southampton Football Club can confirm that Dusan Tadic has agreed a move to Ajax for an undisclosed fee,” Saints confirmed on their official website.

“The transfer, which will be officially completed on July 1, sees the 29-year-old move back to the Dutch top flight, four years after joining Saints from FC Twente.”

Tadic has started in both of Serbia’s World Cup group games in Russia and played the full 90 minutes in last week’s 2-1 defeat to Switzerland.

Southampton signed him for £10.9million in July 2014 from Twente, who paid over £6m to lure him from Groningen four years earlier.

He was instrumental in helping Southampton to their sixth-placed finish in the Premier League in 2016, starring alongside Graziano Pelle and Sadio Mane, and was the club’s joint top-scorer last season with seven goals.