The quiet success of Southampton, who can now afford to keep stars like Sadio Mané
Proving that old habits die hard even under a new manager, Liverpool’s appetite for signing the best players at Southampton seems to be the hunger that goes unsated - judging by the siren calls emanating from Anfield in the direction of that little keg of goalscoring gunpowder, Sadio Mané.
Another summer, another Liverpool raid on the latest Southampton star? Under Brendan Rodgers Liverpool took four players over two summer transfer windows for a price of around £60 million and yet it will be the Saints and not Liverpool who are marching into Europe next season, with Jurgen Klopp’s side having finished two places worse off in eighth.
This summer, however, the attitude at Southampton towards Mané as regards Liverpool is rather different.
The kind of sum that might once have prised away a Southampton
favourite, for instance the £23 million it cost to sign Adam Lallana in
2014, or the £25 million it cost Manchester United to buy Morgan
Schneiderlin, is just not going to cut it, because life is changing fast
at one of the Premier League’s most upwardly-mobile clubs.
Mané is not for sale. That is the
first point response to any inquiry, although this is football, so the
first answer is never the only answer. With two years left on his
contract, Mané, if he ever goes, will be Southampton’s biggest ever
sale, valued at up to £40 million, eclipsing the £31.5 million paid by
United for Luke Shaw two years ago. With all respect to Liverpool’s
status, if they want Mane, they will have to get used to outbidding the
likes of United, Arsenal and Bayern Munich.
There is a growing confidence at Southampton that the old order so rudely shaken up by Leicester City is changing for them too. For instance, Everton’s interest in appointing Ronald Koeman was considered so unlikely to tempt the Southampton manager that key figures at the club cannot recall there even being a meeting about it. The polite answer being that they would not expect to lose a player to Everton, and certainly not their manager.
There is a growing confidence at Southampton that the old order so rudely shaken up by Leicester City is changing for them too. For instance, Everton’s interest in appointing Ronald Koeman was considered so unlikely to tempt the Southampton manager that key figures at the club cannot recall there even being a meeting about it. The polite answer being that they would not expect to lose a player to Everton, and certainly not their manager.
It would be no surprise, in fact, if Koeman, with one year left on his deal, were to sign a new contract at Southampton over the next few months.
The club are realistic enough to know he would not necessarily stay for
the duration of any new deal but for now they feel their shrewd Dutch
manager is happy with life and acknowledges the benefits of being at
such a well-run club.
Of course, the last Premier League season belongs to champions Leicester, the high achievers par excellence, which has meant that Southampton’s steady rise continues has been somewhat overlooked. They achieved their highest-ever Premier League finish, sixth, and amassed the highest ratio of points to games since their second place finish in 1983-1984, still the high watermark for the club.
Of course, the last Premier League season belongs to champions Leicester, the high achievers par excellence, which has meant that Southampton’s steady rise continues has been somewhat overlooked. They achieved their highest-ever Premier League finish, sixth, and amassed the highest ratio of points to games since their second place finish in 1983-1984, still the high watermark for the club.
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