The 22 year old becomes the latest addition to the Chelsea squad following the recent signings of Glen Johnson from West Ham and Geremi from Madrid and will strengthen the English roots in the Blues rear-guard.

Along with Johnson, Bridge will join fellow Three Lions defender, John Terry in a defence that attackers could find difficult to breach.

In the last two seasons Bridge has gained a reputation as one of the Premiership's most reliable defenders and, along with Ashley Cole, has become one of the saviours of England's much debated 'problem left' since making his senior debut in Amsterdam in February 2002.

After four Under-18s caps during 1998-99, the Southampton-born left-back impressed Under-21s coach David Platt enough to earn eight appearances the following season. He has since gone on to earn 12 senior caps and become a regular in Sven's England set-up.

Bridge made his Southampton debut in the first game of the 1998/99 season. Liverpool were the visitors to the Dell and when John Beresford was carried off with a cruciate ligament injury, Bridge was called into action. He made an immediate impact on the South-Coast and followed that match with 23 more before the season's end.

His consistent level of performance at left-back put Bridge on the road to 113 consecutive games for Southampton before a calf strain, ironically against Liverpool, in January forced him out of a Premiership game for the first time in more than two and a half years.

He returned to fitness six weeks later and helped Gordon Strachan's men secure a place in The FA Cup Final, and with it qualification to the UEFA Cup for the first time since 1985.

Now, after five seasons and 173 games with the Saints, Wayne's club form has caused him to be linked with a number of outfits around the country and the offer of Champions League football with Chelsea was too much for him to turn down. It will be intriguing to see how the England man adapts to life against Europe's finest next season.

Bridge will replace former England international left-back Graeme Le Saux who goes the other way in the deal. Le Saux, played over 300 games in two spells at Chelsea, between which he spent four years at Blackburn winning the Premier League Championship in 1995 before returning to Stamford Bridge in 1997.

After a solid season last term, Le Saux represents a very good signature for Southampton and will fit perfectly into the void left by Bridges departure and Saints chairman Rupert Lowe is pleased to have landed the 34 year old despite losing Bridge.

"We are understandably sad to lose the services of Wayne Bridge but he made it abundantly clear that he saw joining Chelsea as a career progression," he said in a statement on the club's website.

"Graeme Le Saux will bring great ability and experience to our squad and we all look forward to working with him to take the club forward."

Wayne Bridge 

Nationality: English
Place of Birth: Southampton
Date of Birth: 05 August 1980 
Weight: 11 11
Height: 5' 10''
Club: Southampton
Position: Defender


Year

Club

Apps.

Goals

1997/98

Southampton

0

0

1998/99

Southampton

24

0

1999/00

Southampton

22

1

2000/01

Southampton

45

0

2001/02

Southampton

42

0

2002/03

Southampton

40

1

2003/04

Chelsea

0

0