Southampton have sold an enormous amount of world class talent in recent years....CONTINUE READING
It’s true that the Saints have become a bit of a feeder club for England’s traditional top-dogs in Liverpool and Manchester United.
To the Merseyside club alone, Southampton have sold Virgil van Dijk, Sadio Mane, Dejan Lovren, Adam Lallana, Nathaniel Clyne and Rickie Lambert all within the last decade.
Of course, whilst that could be deemed as frustrating for some fans, it’s also an important source of income that is a vital part of the way Southampton’s business is run.
The departures of Van Dijk and Mane to Anfield brought in over £100 million in transfer fees and an accumulative profit of nearly three quarters that amount.
The roughly £72 million they made off those deals, combined with the vast profits from selling the likes of Gareth Bale and Luke Shaw, has been instrumental in the club maintaining their top-flight status for 10 consistent seasons now.
And there is probably a general acceptance amongst the fan base that this is how the club will continue to operate to maximise their potential.
But, nevertheless, it’s still crazy to consider what could have been for Southampton if players didn’t move around so much in the modern day game.
Check out this XI of players that Southampton have sold and try telling us that they wouldn’t be at least top four contenders.
GK – Paulo Gazzaniga
RB – Calum Chambers | alternative option: Nathaniel Clyne
CB – Dejan Lovren | alternative option: Jose Fonte
CB – Virgil van Dijk
LB – Luke Shaw
DM – Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg | alternative option: Victor Wanyama
CM – Adam Lallana | alternative option: Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
CM – Dusan Tadic
RW – Gareth Bale | alternative option: Theo Walcott
ST – Danny Ings
LW – Sadio Mane
Admittedly, there’s certainly room for improvement between the sticks, but with a rock solid defence and a tenacious Hojbjerg patrolling in-front of the centre-backs, hopefully Gazzaniga needn’t face too much action.
The combined creative forces of Lallana and Tadic would be a sight to behold in the midfield. The Serbian provided a miraculous 19 assists for Ajax last campaign.
Meanwhile, the attack simply speaks for itself. Mane and Bale are two of the greatest inside wide players we’ve seen in the modern era.
Whereas Ings is a guaranteed goal machine when fit and firing.
We’d back this Southampton team for top four any day.
