Deadline Day has come and gone once again. With the window slammed shut til winter, we break down how Southampton did in the transfer market this summer.
As always, the summer transfer window was packed with drama, intrigue and no small helping of speculation. This year’s flurry of activity took the usual deluge of cash to new heights, as Premier League sides up and down the country flexed their new TV rights wealth.
This summer, we saw the transfer record smashed, as Paul Pogba reunited with Manchester United.
They weren’t the only ones though. A total of 11 teams in the Premier League, including Southampton, broke their team transfer records this year. How much does all that spending add up to? Estimates are as high as £1 billion, also a record.
With all that said and done, the moves, maybes and never-weres of the summer are sure to be analysed by everyone from paid pundit to pub patron over the coming months. Let’s take a look at how the Saints did, player by player.
Out: Victor Wanyama
Position: Defensive Midfield
Purchased: 2013, £12.5m (Celtic)
Sold To: Tottenham Hotspur, £11m
Wanyama had been intermittently linked to a reunion with Mauricio Pochettino since the Argentine manager left for White Hart Lane at the end of 2013/14. A true beast of a defensive mid, the general feeling around the St. Mary’s fanbase was that one way or another, the Kenyan would outgrow the confines of the South Coast. With that all in mind, it came as little surprise when Wanyama entered talks with Spurs and departed earlier this summer.
For three years of solid work-rate, Southampton fans can count themselves fortunate. The 25 year old’s card issues were often a thorn in the side, and general consensus at the time held that Oriol Romeu could do the job just as well and perhaps a bit cleaner. While we’re still waiting to see on that, the season is still young.
From the business point of view, I have to slate this transfer. Daniel Levy of Tottenham Hotspur might have a reputation as the hardest owner in England if not Europe to bargain against, but in this deal the Saints got mugged, plain and simple. Selling a player with no glaring issues and a high ceiling on a loss isn’t how the club typically do business, and only adds to the hint of bitterness comparing Wanyama’s current campaign with that of his replacement Oriol Romeu.
Grade: 5/10
Out: Graziano Pelle
Position: Striker/Centre Forward
Purchased: 2014, £8m (Feyenoord)
Sold To: Shandong Luneng, £12m
Approaching 30, it was always a bit of a given that Pelle’s tenure in the youth-oriented Southampton would be limited. The club got two years from him at a decent price from Feyenoord, linking him back up with former boss Ronald Koeman. Last season, he lead the team in scoring, tied with Sadio Mane at 10 goals apiece.
When speculation began swirling this summer, it was naturally assumed that Pelle would choose to play his twilight years out in his home country; a move to China came as a surprise for many who thought the Italian international’s talent was still European league quality. In the days that followed, the logic became apparent: playing in the Far East, Pelle is currently the world’s sixth-highest paid player.
Walking the league and getting paid a king’s ransom: not a bad way to end a career. For Southampton, a profit margin of 50% isn’t a bad bit of business either. But given his performance in Euro 2016 and how much he’s being paid, perhaps the club could’ve gotten a bit more for him.