Southampton have completed a deal for Feyenoord midfielder Jordy Clasie after moving quickly to fill the void left by Morgan Schneiderlin’s departure to Manchester United.

Clasie, who has 11 caps for the Netherlands, has signed a five-year contract, the Premier League club said on Wednesday. British media reports indicated the fee was in the region of 7 million pounds ($10.95 million).

The 24-year-old will be reunited with Southampton manager Ronald Koeman, his former boss at Feyenoord where the midfielder has spent his entire professional career since making his debut four years ago.

Clasie is a direct replacement for the outgoing Schneiderlin, who packed his bags for Old Trafford in a deal reported to be worth 25 million pounds.

“It’s a big club playing in what I think is the biggest and most important league,” Clasie said on the Southampton website (www.saintsfc.co.uk).

“Ronald being here is a big thing for me and that was important in me coming here, but even if he wasn’t here, I’d have come to this club.

“I played every game for him. He’s a good trainer and a good man so I like him, but I came here not only for him. I came here for the club.”

Clasie, who was part of the Dutch squad that finished third at the World Cup in Brazil, is Southampton’s fifth close-season recruit.

The South Coast club are becoming experts in finding value in the transfer market, which has become necessary as the Premier League’s bigger hitters have cherry-picked their best players in recent seasons.

The departures of Schneiderlin, as well as England full back Nathaniel Clyne to Liverpool, this season come on the back of a number of high-profile exits last year.

The squad underwent a major overhaul last season after full back Luke Shaw joined United and defender Dejan Lovren, midfielder Adam Lallana and forward Rickie Lambert all joined Liverpool.

The club’s director of football Les Reed, however, was hopeful they may have landed another major talent in Clasie.

“Jordy is one of the most highly sought-after midfielders in Europe,” he said.

“His qualities are plain to see for anybody who has watched his development over the past few years as closely as we have, and we are delighted that he will continue his growth at Southampton.” ($1 = 0.6395 pounds) .