Saints swoop for Nice defender

London - French defender Jeremy Pied has been reunited with Southampton manager Claude Puel after joining the Premier League club on a free transfer from Nice.

Pied played under Puel at both Lyon and Nice and the right-back will link up with Southampton's new manager for a third time after signing a two-year contract at St Mary's.

"I'm now very happy to join Southampton. You only have to look at the facilities and their results over the last few seasons to know that this is a very good Premier League club," Pied said.

"I'm very proud. The English league is a very attractive one and it was a goal of mine to be able to play in it."

Pied, 27, joined Nice from Lyon in 2012 and was mainly a first-team regular, although he was sent on loan to Guingamp in the 2014-15 campaign.