Israeli soccer star Daniel Peretz finalized a permanent transfer to English Football League club Southampton, the team announced on Friday, capping off a major year for the rising player.
Peretz announced the signing on his Instagram page, saying he is "really happy and excited to sign permanently for the club."
"Big thanks to the club, the board, and the staff for the trust... and for you all the fans that gave me so much love from the first second," added Peretz.
"Now it’s time for us all to work hard!" he continued. "Let’s go and do it together."
Southampton confirmed the signing on social media, saying, "Peretz on a perm," referring to the permanent transfer.
Financial details of the transfer were not officially disclosed, though the BBC reported the transfer fee from Bayern Munich is between €7.5 million and €8 million.
Peretz endured a tumultuous year that ended on a high note. He was sent on loan from Bayern Munich to Hamburg SV in search of more playing time, but struggled to earn minutes, sitting behind Daniel Heuer Fernandes.
Having not seen much playing time in Hamburg, the team agreed to send him on loan to Southampton at the top of the year.
Southampton coach pressured interns to spy on rival clubs
Southampton members told an independent disciplinary committee that coach Tonda Ackert exerted "extreme pressure" on them to spy on rival football clubs, the BBC reported in May.
The club was expelled from the playoffs after admitting to spying on Oxford United and Ipswich Town training sessions during the regular season, and later on Middlesbrough ahead of the playoff semifinals.
In addition, four points were deducted from their tally for the following season.
The disciplinary reasoning described the club’s conduct as a "calculated and determined top-down plan" approved by Ackert, with WhatsApp messages cited in the arbitration committee report that revealed details of the plan.
"I didn’t really have a choice and wasn’t given an opportunity to refuse," one analyst sent to observe an Oxford United training session before Southampton’s December match wrote to colleagues. "I was an intern and did what I was told."
The analyst then received a WhatsApp message in response, saying, "You are a legend. The coach loved it," after passing the information collected in the field to his supervisor.
Walla contributed to this report.