Maya Yoshida leaves Southampton with heartfelt message | OneFootball

Maya Yoshida took to Twitter to bid an emotional farewell to Southampton.

The experienced Japan international, who has 100 caps to his name, has joined Sampdoria on loan until the end of the season.

With an option to extend the deal with the Italians into 2020/21, Yoshida’s time as a Saint is over.

However, he didn’t leave without posting a heartfelt message to the St Mary’s faithful.

Yoshida moved to the south coast club from Dutch side VVV-Venlo in 2012 for a fee in the region of £3m.

The centre-back made 194 appearances during his time with the Saints, scoring nine goals.

For their part, Southampton didn’t let the moment pass without paying tribute with a video montage of some of the player’s most memorable moments.

At 31, Yoshida is still relatively young for a centre-back.

And the slower pace of Serie A may allow him to compete at a high level for a few years to come yet.