a Saint

李 忠成のSouthamptonへの移籍が決まりました。タイトルのa Saintのいわれは？Southamptonの発音表記とともに、Sugiuchiさん、お願いします。（Othello）
Lee takes a gamble to become a Saint
Sean Carroll / Special to The Daily Yomiuri

SOUTHAMPTON, England--Japan striker Tadanari Lee has described his transfer to English League Championship side Southampton as a "gamble," but is excited by the new challenge and believes it will improve him as a player and benefit the national team.

The 26-year-old had long been touted for a move to Europe, although he was widely expected to join the likes of Atsuto Uchida and Shinji Kagawa in the German Bundesliga.

It was eventually second-tier Southampton--which goes by the nickname The Saints and is currently top of the table--which provided the best offer though, and he became the latest member of the Samurai Blue to head overseas when he was granted a visa on Wednesday.

"If I stay in the J.League I can play in every game, but I want to step up. It's a kind of challenge or gamble," he told The Daily Yomiuri a couple of days after his arrival in the port town in the south of England.