Southampton: Saints to miss out on Champions League bonuses
By Marc Walker
Southampton look set to miss out on bonus payments should Liverpool win the Champions League final against Real Madrid on Saturday.
It had been thought that Southampton had clauses inserted in the contracts of players they have sold to Liverpool that would entitle them to bonus payments for winning the Champions League.
However, according to the Times, no such payments were agreed in the sales and bonuses are only due after appearance milestones and Champions League qualification.
Liverpool finishing in fourth place in the Premier League this season is likely to have triggered clauses ahead of next season, and could provide the Saints with a small boost in their bid to improve their squad before 2018/19.
Rickie Lambert, Adam Lallana, Dejan Lovren, Nathaniel Clyne, Sadio Mane and Virgil Van-Dijk have all made the move from St Mary’s to Anfield in the past five years and these moves have generated some healthy sums.
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These transfers have brought in around £170m, but Southampton fans grew increasingly angered by the selling and lack of spending to replace the recently departed Van-Dijk in defence.
The Centre-Back was sold for the largest fee at £75m, and this would smash the world-record fee for a defender.
With Mark Hughes likely to be named the permanent Southampton boss imminently, it will be crucial that he gets the funds he needs to shape the playing squad for a successful campaign next season.
The Welshman replaced previous manager Mauricio Pellegrino on a short-term deal until the end of 2017/18, and completed the task he was set; to keep the Saints in the Premier League.
Improvements also need to be made by the club after their recent transfer record. Club-record signing Guido Carrillo arrived in January but didn’t hit the ground running, the defence needs reinforcements quickly and creativity in attack needs to be added over the summer.
Players to be linked with a move to the Saints so far in this transfer window include Pione Sisto, Joe Hart, Mouctar Diakhaby and Alfie Mawson.