Gillingham have made Southampton youngster Tyreke Johnson their first signing of the January transfer window on a loan deal until the end of the season.

The 22-year-old joins fellow Saints player Tom O’Connor at the Kent outfit and can make his debut in Saturday’s Sky Bet League One clash at home to Burton.

Johnson has made one Premier League appearance for Southampton and featured regularly in the club’s under-23 team, while he spent time in the United States in 2020 on loan at Hartford Athletic.

Steve Evans was delighted to win the race for the midfielder and hopes to make his transfer permanent.

“We are delighted to have signed Ty on loan,” the Gills boss said. “He is an exciting prospect and I have no doubt he will fit in well with our current group.

“He is very quick, direct, hungry and will cause defences a lot of problems in our division. Our intention is to make this deal permanent, which will give us more flexibility in the loan market over the next few weeks.”