Southampton, once a bastion of intelligent recruitment and transfer window proficiency, quickly became a case study of how things can go so wrong so fast for clubs in the Premier League if decision-making at the highest level isn't up to scratch.
Having once signed the likes of Virgil van Dijk, Sadio Mane, Dejan Lovren, Morgan Schneiderlin and Dusan Tadic, the Saints were able to be successful on the pitch and move these players on while accumulating a profit.
Brighton and Hove Albion and Aston Villa have followed this blueprint in recent seasons and have been highly successful. However, Southampton should be an example to the two sides for how quickly things can spiral with poor recruitment.
Player
Signed For
Sold For
Virgil van Dijk
£13m
£73m
Romeo Lavia
£14m
£54m
Sadio Mane
£10m
£35m
Luke Shaw
0
£32m
Tino Livramento
£5m
£32m
Morgan Schneiderlin
£1m
£30m
James Ward-Prowse
0
£30m
Adam Lallana
0
£27m
Danny Ings
£20m
£25m
Dejan Lovren
£9m
£22m
The last time the south coast club accumulated more profit than expenditure during a transfer window prior to this summer was back in the 2017/18 season. Since then, the club have spent more money on bringing new players to the club than they have sold.
Some of Southampton's signings in recent seasons have been disastrous, which piqued in 2023 as the side were relegated to the Championship, having enjoyed an eleven-year stay in the top-flight. A lot of these signings have since parted ways, including one expensive purchase who has flopped since leaving the St. Mary's Stadium.
Southampton's balance sheet since 2018
In 2018, inflated by the departure of Van Dijk to Liverpool, Southampton had a positive balance sheet, having made more money on player departures than what went the opposite way.
In total, the Saints earned just shy of £85m, spending a total of merely £53m on players, according to Transfermarkt, although the club did have a close shave with relegation that term and stayed up uneasily within the last few games of the season.
However, in the five campaigns following that, the club threw money at signings in the hopes of finding their next gem, spending £323m in total on players alone, primarily under manager Ralph Hasenhuttl, who had been in charge from 2018 to 2022.
Some of these transfers included Paul Onuachu, Mohamed Elyounoussi and and Jannik Vestergaard, but there's one other costly player who was an indictment of Southampton's recruitment over the past few seasons.
Djenepo's time at Southampton
In 2019, Southampton secured the services of highly-rated Standard Liege star Moussa Djenepo for £13.5m when Hasenhuttl was in charge of the team. The Saints had been left impressed by the winger's form in Belgium, having scored 12 goals and recorded seven assists in 61 appearances.
Meet the Southampton gem who may soon be ready to follow in Bale's footsteps
This promising Southampton youngster was enjoying a loan spell away from the club, before disaster struck for the 18-year-old.
ByKelan Sarson
As per Transfermarkt, Djenepo had primarily played as a left-winger but was no stranger to the centre-forward position as well as the right flank, which offered Hasenhuttl versatility.
The Malian looked scintillating in some games for Southampton, leaving talkSPORT pundit and former player Tony Cascarino to describe Djenepo as a real "handful", comparing him to ex-winger Mane.
Unfortunately, Djenepo never quite got to grips with the Premier League and struggled for consistency across his four-year spell with the club.
Over the course of 91 matches in all competitions for the Saints, the Mali international scored five goals and registered five assists, an average of one goal contribution every nine matches. Furthermore, Djenepo never really became a regular player in the starting lineup for Southampton.
2019/20
20
1,062
2
2
2020/21
31
1,501
2
0
2021/22
16
678
0
0
2022/23
23
993
1
3
Coincidentally, Djenepo's most productive seasons were his first and his last and after Southampton were relegated to the Championship during the summer, the winger return to Standard Liege in the Belgian Pro League for a reported £3m, less than four times what he was bought for as a 21-year-old back in 2019.
Despite playing a full game in the EFL Cup earlier in the campaign under new Southampton boss Russell Martin, the manager decided it was best for all parties if the attacker left the club.
Moussa Djenepo's stats this season
Standard Liege are having quite a tricky start to the season, having finished sixth last season. The Belgian outfit are ninth right now and have won merely five matches from their opening 16 of the campaign. Djenepo's form in the final third certainly hasn't helped manager Carl Hoefkens, a former player for West Bromwich Albion and Stoke City.
Djenepo has made 11 appearances this season for Les Rouches, scoring zero goals and failing to bag one single assist. Furthermore, his disappointing form in Central Europe has seen his transfer value decline from £6.9m to a mere £5.6m since June, according to Transfermarkt.
Additionally, Djenepo is even underperforming this term in comparison to fellow winger and old counterpart Kamaldeen Sulemana, who has failed to find the net as well this season despite his hefty £22m price tag.
Goals
0
0
Expected Goals
0.08
0.13
Assists
0
0.39
Expected Assists
0.04
0.16
Progressive Carries
4.3
5.84
Progressive Passes Received
7.59
12.5
Shots
1.01
1.3
Shots On Target
0.11
0.65
Key Passes
0.76
1.56
Passes To Penalty Area
0.38
2.34
Successful Take-Ons %
37.7
64.5
It's safe to say that Djenepo's move back to Standard Liege has been nothing short of a disaster, just like his arrival at Southampton in the first place.