North Ireland International Baird joined Fulham

Fulham have signed Southampton's Northern Ireland defender Chris Baird in a £3.25million deal.

The 25-year-old, who had been tipped to join Sunderland, has agreed a four-year deal at Craven Cottage.

Fulham manager Lawrie Sanchez told the club's official website: 'I'm delighted that Chris has chosen to join Fulham despite interest shown by other clubs.'

The news of Fulham's move for the player comes as a surprise after Southampton revealed they had agreed a fee with Sunderland earlier in the week.

Baird, has risen through the ranks at Southampton and, after loans at Walsall and Watford, established himself in the first team under manager George Burley.

He has earned 25 caps for Northern Ireland since 2003, most of them under former national team boss Sanchez.

Sanchez added: 'I am well aware of Chris' attributes as a player from my time with Northern Ireland and his qualities and versatility will be a major asset for the club next season.

'Winning the Southampton player of the season award last year is testament to his continued progress and development, which I have seen first hand at international level.

'Chris becomes my second defensive signing following the arrival of Aaron Hughes and both players provide some much needed strength to our defence.'

Baird is determined to help Fulham avoid a repeat of the relegation battle they faced in the last campaign.

'We don't want to be in the same position we were in last season - we want to be secure in the Premier League and hopefully we can finish much higher up next year,' he said.

'I'm sure with the players we've got we can do that.'

He added: 'It's been a long, hard wait but thankfully it's all done and dusted now and I'm a Fulham player.

'To play in the Premiership was one of the major reasons for me coming here.

'There are good quality players here and I'm just looking forward to the season. It's not the easiest start against Arsenal but I don't see why we can't get a result if we do things right in pre-season.'

Source: Soccernet.com