Everton have announced the signing of defender Cuco Martina on a free transfer from Southampton.

The 27-year-old has put pen-to-paper on a three-year deal at Goodison Park following the expiration of his deal with fellow Premier League outfit Southampton.

✍️ | Welcome to Everton, Cuco Martina! 👍https://t.co/DQGtigws9q pic.twitter.com/lrnhlU9kvX

— Everton (@Everton) July 17, 2017

“Everton is a big club with big ambitions and I’m really looking forward to joining this group of players and the manager as we try to step forward next season,” the right-back told the club’s official website.

“Obviously, I know the manager from my time at Southampton, so I know what he wants and he knows what I can do. Everton supporters are really passionate about their club and everyone’s excited about where the club is aiming. You can see this is a club that wants to achieve something and the players we are bringing certainly show this.

“When you come to a new club, you need to get to know one another so the training camp in Holland will be great for me and for the other new players as well. We will play against Twente, one of my old clubs too, and I’m really looking forward to showing everyone what I can do.”

Martina has started just six league matches for the Saints last term, although he appeared five times in the Europa League.

The Merseyside outfit have been quite busy in the summer transfer window, bringing in the likes of Wayne Rooney, Jordan Pickford, Sandro Ramirez to the south coast.