Liverpool's strange relationship with Southampton

Many of the Premier League's less well funded clubs have opted in every transfer window to seek out the hidden gems of international football to acquire their services at a very affordable cost, making them profitable for a period of time until their consistency and performances benefit the club's goals for the season, and then moving on to another institution at a high cost that ends up being profitable.

The perfect example of the situation in question has been Southampton, who over the years have been able to get it right with such profitable signings that end up benefiting them in sporting terms and then financially, with some of their stars leaving a couple of seasons later for Liverpool, a team with big money that since the arrival of Jurgen Klopp has done good business with the Saints.

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Since 2014 this little alliance between the two institutions came about with the sale of Adam Lallana, arriving at Liverpool for just £25M. Later that year they also confirmed the arrival of Dejan Lovren for £20M and Rickie Lambert for £4.5M, marking that June their alliance which until not so long ago continued to bear fruit with players who are or were icons at Anfield.

Then in July 2015 Liverpool went back to the Saints to sign British defender Nathaniel Clyne, who had a sale value of up to £12.5m. But even as a Reds client of Southampton, all the players sold to the Reds could not find a consistency that would make them stand out too much, but even with that, the Reds continued to rely on the stars of that institution and in 2016 is that the money they were paying started to pay off.

<strong>Liverpool have signed a lot of Saints players</strong>

In June 2016, the Senegalese attacker Sadio Mané arrived on Merseyside for a fee of £30m, a player much appreciated at Liverpool for all his commitment and dedication throughout his six seasons at the club. Then in January 2018, Virgil van Dijk arrived for £75m and the Dutchman is now an iconic man in defence in his sixth season.