Southampton sign winger Scienza from Heidenheim

Leo Scienza scored Heidenheim's only goal in their first two games of the Bundesliga season

Championship side Southampton have signed Brazilian winger Leo Scienza from Bundesliga club Heidenheim for an undisclosed fee on a four-year deal.

Scienza, 26, scored nine times and produced eight assists in 40 appearances for Heidenheim, including an added-time winner in the 2024-25 relegation play-offs and three goals in three matches in all competitions this season.

"I am absolutely motivated, proud and looking forward to getting started," Scienza told Southampton's website.

"The club has ambitious goals and I want to help to achieve them. I have a great feeling ahead of this new challenge and I'm sure we will be successful together."

Scienza, who can play on either flank and is of Luxembourgian descent, started his senior career with Brazilian team Lajeadense before joining Swedish fifth-tier club Fanna.

The set-piece specialist worked his way through the German divisions as a prolific presence for Schalke and FC Magdeburg's second teams and SSV Ulm, with whom he won the 2023-24 third tier title.

"I started very late and I never had so many chances in my life," he said. "I had a very hard time - for example in my first experience away from home, in Sweden.

"I've been through a lot. I played in basically every league from the lowest to the highest and I was very, very thankful I could play in the Bundesliga with Heidenheim.

"It was a hell of a journey and now I am here. It is the biggest step for my career and for my life, and I'm very excited."

While the fee for Scienza has not been revealed, Heidenheim chairman Holger Sanwald told the club's website the transfer had been agreed because of its "financial significance".