Tuesday 3 February 2015 07:13, UK
Southampton have confirmed the arrival of attacking midfielder Filip Djuricic from Benfica on a loan deal that runs until the end of the season.
The 23-year-old Serbia international becomes Ronald Koeman's second signing of the month - joining forward Eljero Elia, who arrived on loan from Werder Bremen at the beginning of the year.
Koeman said: "I know the player from Holland. He played several seasons for Heerenveen and then he moved to Benfica.
“He had some good games, there was a lot of interest in the player when he was at Heerenveen. He moved to Portugal and now it’s a good chance for the player to develop himself.
"It's a young player. He's 23 years old, he’s technical, fast and he can play in different positions in the midfield. He can play on the left side and the right side.
"It’s part of the philosophy of the club; young players. He was in a difficult situation, he was on loan at Mainz and we will take him on loan for the rest of the season.
"It’s a good possibility for him, and for us it’s one more player who can play in different positions. It’s always best for the coach to have more possibilities in players who can change positions.
It’s a good possibility for him, and for us it’s one more player who can play in different positions. It’s always best for the coach to have more possibilities in players who can change positions.
"The last few weeks we have had problems to score goals, like Sunday. We created good opportunities and you have to score, always it’s easy to have really good competition."
Djuricic, who spent the first half of the current campaign on loan at German club Mainz, is a close friend of Saints winger Dusan Tadic and Koeman added: "It’s always important. It makes the adaptation a little bit easier and faster and that’s good.
"It’s difficult for young players to make the step to teams like Benfica, it’s physical football in Portugal and the player is more technical.
"I think it’s better for him to play in a team like Southampton because our type of football is the best for Djuricic."
Sky sources suggest a clause in the loan contract gives Southampton the option to buy Djuricic in the summer for a fee of around £9m.
