Southampton’s past season was affected by years of having the Premier League’s top players steal their finest players. The Saints were dropped from England’s top division to the Championship after 11 seasons.
Express Sport looks at a team of active players who Southampton have sold in recent years
Fraser Forster
Throughout the years, Southampton has struggled to find top-tier goalkeepers, but Fraser Forster, who joined the South Coast club in 2014 from Celtic, had a fantastic eight years. Before transferring to Tottenham in 2022, the six-cap England international played 162 times for the Saints, preserving clean sheets in nearly a third of those matches.
Cedric Soares
Former Southampton defenders make up a talented back four. After Nathaniel Clyne left for Liverpool in 2015, Cedric Soares took his spot.
Many Southampton supporters could contend that the Portuguese was a better player than Clyne. In 2020, the now-32-year-old joined Arsenal.
Virgil van Dijk
Liverpool captain Van Dijk has gone on to become one of the best centre-backs in world football. Despite recent criticism of his performances, the Dutchman has won the Premier League and Champions League at Anfield.
Dejan Lovren
Not quite such a Liverpool legend is Dejan Lovren. Revered at Southampton after an excellent 2013-14 campaign, the Croatian became one of many players to switch the Saints for Liverpool in the mid-2010s.
Lovren split opinion on Merseyside but was still on their books for their Champions League and Premier League triumphs in 2019 and 2020, respectively. He now plays for Ligue 1 strugglers Lyon.
Luke Shaw
Shaw was destined to leave Southampton from his early teens, such was the hype around the young left-back. The Saints ultimately held on to their most precocious talent since Gareth Bale until 2014, when Manchester United paid a then-record fee for a teenager of £30m.
Now 28, Shaw overcame a tough period out of United’s team under Jose Mourinho. He is now a regular for the Red Devils and England, scoring in the Euro 2021 final for the Three Lions.
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg
Midfielder Hojbjerg was an excellent £12.8m signing from Bayern Munich, playing 134 times. The Dane moved to Tottenham in 2020 and despite being a key player for the North Londoners since his £20m switch, the 28-year-old has struggled for game time in the last year.
Oriol Romeu
There was plenty of shock when Romeu rocked up at former club Barcelona in the summer. The defensive midfielder’s career appeared to be on the decline when he left Southampton for Girona a year ago, but he has since moved to Barca.
Romeu made 256 appearances for Southampton after joining from Chelsea in 2015. He has played nine times for Barca since his return to the Spanish giants this term
James Ward-Prowse
Had Southampton not been relegated from the Premier League, Ward-Prowse would surely have seen out his career with the club. Having debuted aged just 16 in 2011, the midfielder spent 12 years in the first team and became an iconic figure, not least for his set-piece expertise.
Ward-Prowse joined West Ham in the summer and is already a fans’ favourite in East London. Now 28, he is a household name in the Premier League.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
Like Shaw, Southampton were never going to be able to keep a teenage Oxlade-Chamberlain. Arsenal signed the attacker in 2011 and he quickly became a regular star under Arsene Wenger.
Having seen his career stall, Oxlade-Chamberlain joined Liverpool in 2017 – in part due to a desire to play in midfield. The Portsmouth-born ace spent six years under Klopp but several injuries saw him finally depart in the summer – joining Besiktas on a free transfer.
Dusan Tadic
Tadic was effectively signed as a replacement for Adam Lallana in 2014, with Lallana departing for Liverpool that summer. The Serbian star did not quite have the same impact as his predecessor, despite scoring 24 goals in 162 appearances.
It was at his next club, Ajax, where Tadic’s career took off. He bagged 105 goals in 241 games for the Dutch outfit. Tadic joined Fenerbahce in the summer.
Sadio Mane
Mane, a forward who played for Southampton for just two years before Liverpool swooped in to sign him, was another excellent player. In 75 games for the Saints, he scored 25 goals, including a hat-trick against Liverpool the year before he was signed away from Hampshire.
Mane later joined Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino at Anfield to form the renowned front three. He moved to Bayern Munich in 2022 but struggled there before joining Cristiano Ronaldo at Al-Nasr and becoming one of many players to leave for Saudi Arabia in the summer.
