da bet sport： Back in 2014, Southampton had work to do in the transfer market after a mass summer exodus.
da mrbet： That was the pre-season which saw Liverpool poach Rickie Lambert, Adam Lallana and Dejan Lovren, while Manchester United pinched Luke Shaw and Arsenal stole Calum Chambers from the Saints.
Ronald Koeman had a job on his hands to sign some game-changers to replace those valued first-team members, and he did a fairly good job.
The Dutchman signed Dusan Tadic, Graziano Pelle, Ryan Bertrand and Fraser Forster, while Shane Long also arrived in a deal worth a reported £12m.
Almost six years on from the Irishman’s arrival, he is the only man currently at the club along with Bertrand – Forster is on loan at Celtic.
The Republic of Ireland international had made his name at Reading, for who he netted 54 goals for in 199 games.
He arrived at St Mary’s from Hull, and over half a decade on, he has proven to be a wonderful servant to the club.
Long has racked up 205 appearances for Southampton, more than he has made at any of his other clubs, while scoring 35 goals and recording 26 assists.
It was his strike at Anfield which took the Saints to a Carabao Cup final too, and while he may have struggled for goals in recent seasons – he netted just two league goals in 2017/18 and also only has two league goals this term – he is still a valued member of the team, so much so that he is apparently close to signing a new contract.
If you were to divide his transfer fee by the amount of goals he has scored, then you’d see that each of Long’s strikes have been worth £342.9k to Southampton.
His massive workload – which has been praised by Danny Ings – redeems his lack of goals, and he truly has been an excellent servant for the club for many years.
From non-League to the Premier League: Where did these top-flight stars begin their careers?
In other news, this Nigel Adkins signing whose value has shot up was a truly inspired piece of business…