Southampton’s ideal January transfer window roundtable – by Alastair Case

Q5: If you had an unlimited budget and unlimited time travel, which former Saints player would you bring back to add to our current squad? Any era, any player – no matter how good or bad they were!

A: I suspect many would use this as an opportunity to bring back Matt Le Tissier, who is without doubt one of the most talented players in the last 40 years. However, would he buy into the Hasenhuttl regime and would he be as effective in the modern era of ultra-fit footballers?

Personally, it seems unlikely and I would rather remember him with the warm nostalgia befitting of his achievements at the Dell. As such, my choice would be Sadio Mane, who continues to go from strength to strength under Klopp at Liverpool. His pace, work rate and finishing would compliment the existing squad and if we are talking about a player who could transform Saints to the next level, there cannot be many better ex-Saints players than the Senegalese forward.

My late father would have doubtless said Paine, Channon or big Ron Davies but given my relative youth, I am not old enough to have had the pleasure of seeing them play for Southampton. If we were being objective, Kevin Keegan or Alan Shearer would also be worthy shouts but based on players I have seen live, I will stick with Sadio Mane.