LB- Stewart Downing (£18.5m)
Tom Werner might have been impressed by a doctored Aston Villa promo video of Downing kicking footballs into bins, but the rest of the world weren’t shocked when the Englishman reverted to type. Downing struggled to deliver on his potential with us, and that’s reflected in the near £15m loss made on him. He only managed to bag three goals from 65 league appearances whilst a Red.
CM- Javier Mascherano (£18.6m)
Signed after a controversial time at West Ham, Javier Mascherano was a great acquisition for the club. Hard-working, tough-tackling, and an excellent passer, he provided our team with a steel that we at times lacked. It is just a shame that his best days have probably been spent at Barcelona, for whom he joined for £17.25m in 2010.
CM- Alberto Aquilani (£17.1m)
Things never worked out, and the midfielder spent most of his three years with us out on loan. The most disappointing aspect of the deal was that Aquilani would leave the club for Fiorentina for peanuts in 2012.
CM- Adam Lallana (£25m)
Another player yet to justify his full fee, but with time to put that right. He had been Southampton’s talisman as they rose from the doldrums of English football all the way into the Premier League, and showed no signs of looking out of his depth. Injuries have delayed him settling at our club, but there is definitely much more to come from the England international.