Where are they now? The seriously gifted Southampton side that finished above Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool
Since the turn of the century, St Mary’s Stadium has played host to some of the Premier League’s biggest names – and we’re not just talking about visiting players.
Indeed, several Southampton players have shone on the south coast before going on to play for some of Europe’s biggest clubs.
Gareth Bale, Adam Lallana, Luke Shaw and Dejan Lovren all play for clubs to have won either the Champions or Europa League in recent seasons. Elsewhere, the likes of Theo Walcott, Calum Chambers, Morgan Schneiderlin and Rickie Lambert also initially left Southampton to play in Europe’s elite competition.
Most of these departures have occurred in the years since Southampton made a triumphant return to the Premier League for the 2012/13 campaign. But regardless of who has left the Saints in that time, they have always somehow managed to replace their old stars with new ones.
That said, the last couple of seasons have been a struggle as a failure to replace top-class talent has seen Southampton battling to stay in the division — and their time now appears to be up after a thumping defeat to Nottingham Forest left them needing a miracle to stay afloat.
Gone are the days when the club could dream of breaking into the top six, let alone staying in the division — but that’s exactly what they did in 2015/16 under Ronald Koeman’s management.
One look at Southampton that year and it’s easy to see how they finished above the misfiring duo, Liverpool and Chelsea. Here’s what happened next to every player in the Southampton side that secured a sixth-placed finish in 2015/16.
Goalkeeper: Fraser Forster
Age: 35
Current club: Tottenham
Southampton appearances: 161
Forster gradually took over from Maarten Stekelenburg as Southampton’s first-choice goalkeeper in 2015/16. The former Celtic star was clearly the safer pair of hands, conceding just 17 goals in 18 league games and keeping six clean sheets, his form earning him a call-up to England’s Euro 2016 squad.
The 35-year-old played every league game the following season but his performances drastically dipped in 2017/18 and he was dropped. He joined Tottenham last summer and has featured more than he was perhaps expecting to, with Hugo Lloris struggling for form and fitness.
Right-back: Cuco Martina
Age: 33
Current club: NAC Breda
Southampton appearances: 36
In the second half of 2015/16, Martina became Koeman’s right-back of choice ahead of Cedric Soares after scoring his only goal for the club – a stunning strike against Arsenal – in his first start. However, inconsistency saw him struggle to hold the place down going into the following season, when Soares earned his spot back.
Martina made just nine league appearances in 2016/17 and was released at the end of the campaign. Koeman, who had left for the Everton job, took Martina with him to Goodison Park, but a string of poor performances saw the 33-year-old loaned to Stoke City before going on another loan at Dutch club Feyenoord.
He’d return to Everton before joining Go Ahead Eagles as a free agent, and now turns out for NAC Breda.
Centre-back: Jose Fonte
Age: 39
Current club: Lille
Southampton appearances: 288
Fonte played a key role in Southampton’s promotions from League One to the Championship and from the second tier to the top-flight. He was subsequently handed a new contract and the captaincy in the summer of 2014. Despite another impressive season in 2015/16, Fonte failed to agree to fresh terms with the club on a new deal.
In the following campaign, he departed midway through the season to join West Ham United. Just a year later, the Portugal international signed for Chinese club Dalian Yifang, and just six months after that he was back in Europe with Ligue 1 side Lille, where he remains and became a Ligue 1 champion in 2021.
Centre-back: Virgil van Dijk
Age: 31
Current club: Liverpool
Southampton appearances: 80
From his first game in a Southampton shirt, it was clear the Saints had a special defender on their hands. But Van Dijk has surprised everybody with just how special he has become in a Liverpool shirt since leaving Southampton in January 2017. Indeed, he has turned Jurgen Klopp’s side into contenders for the Premier League and Champions League.
His debut season for Southampton, 2015/16, was impressive but not enough to provoke interest from Liverpool and Manchester City. That came after his second campaign in England, but it took until midway through 2017/18 for a bid to be accepted. Van Dijk is now considered among the world’s best centre-backs and has been crowned European and English champions with the Reds.
Left-back: Ryan Bertrand
Age: 33
Current club: Southampton
Southampton appearances: 238
A mainstay on Southampton’s left-side for almost five years, Bertrand has been a picture of consistency since joining from Chelsea. He has struggled to improve his overall level to the point of earning a return to a top-six club, but if offered, the top teams probably wouldn’t say no to having the 33-year-old as a squad option.
Bertrand formed an impressive partnership down the left with Dusan Tadic (more on him later) in 2015/16, which gave Southampton another attacking element while opponents were attempting to deal with Sadio Mane (him too) on the other flank.
Find the latest Premier League relegation odds for the 2024/25 season here:
PREMIER LEAGUE RELEGATION ODDS |
|||||||
| Club | CopyBet | ||||||
| Leicester | 2/5 | ||||||
| Ipswich | 8/11 | ||||||
| Southampton | 27/20 | ||||||
| Nottingham Forest | 2/1 | ||||||
| Everton | 2/1 | ||||||
| Wolves | 7/2 | ||||||
| Brentford | 9/2 | ||||||
| Fulham | 5/1 | ||||||
You have to be 18+ to gamble. All odds within this article are accurate at the time of writing (09:00, 15/07/2024). GambleAware.
Central midfield: Victor Wanyama
Age: 31
Current club: Montreal Impact
Southampton appearances: 97
Mauricio Pochettino attempted to take a number of players with him from Southampton to Tottenham in 2014; reports at the time suggested Spurs wanted Dejan Lovren, Adam Lallana, Morgan Schneiderlin and Jay Rodriguez to follow the Argentinian to White Hart Lane. He ended up with just one, though, and it took a couple of years to get Wanyama.
The Kenyan was signed to bolster Spurs’ midfield after the Londoners missed out on the title in 2015/16, while Wanyama was excelling in Southampton’s midfield. He replicated those displays in his first season at Tottenham but knee injuries curtailed his progress thereafter. He’s since moved to MLS club Montreal Impact.
Central midfield: Jordy Clasie
Age: 31
Current club: AZ Alkmaar
Southampton appearances: 49
Koeman brought Clasie with him to Southampton from Feyenoord in the hope the midfielder would adapt quickly to Premier League life and inject some much-needed creativity into the team. But despite sporadic moments of inventiveness, Clasie took too long to adapt to his surroundings – he failed to score a single goal in his debut season.
That said, he was being picked ahead of James-Ward Prowse and Oriol Romeu in the final few games of the 2015/16 season, although he missed the final match through injury. There was no recognisable improvement from Clasie in 2016/17 and he has since been loaned to Club Brugge and former club, Feyenoord, before joining AZ Alkmaar on a permanent basis.
Attacking midfield: Sadio Mane
Age: 31
Current club: Bayern Munich
Southampton appearances: 75
Like Van Dijk, Mane developed into an even better player than many imagined he would at Liverpool. The winger bagged a hat-trick against Manchester City in his penultimate home game for Southampton, a performance that confirmed his potential and tempted Liverpool into making a summer move.
Mane went on to form one part of the Reds’ fearsome front three, scoring 120 goals across all competitions to help Liverpool win the 2018/19 Champions League and the 2019/20 Premier League, while on a personal level, he finished fourth in the 2019 Ballon d’Or voting.
He left Anfield last summer after 269 appearances for Bayern Munich, where he has struggled to replicate the scintillating heights he set on Merseyside, netting just seven Bundesliga goals so far. He was also involved in an altercation with Leroy Sane which has threatened to tarnish his early-Bavarian existence.
Attacking midfield: Steven Davis
Age: 38
Current club: Rangers
Southampton appearances: 226
Southampton lured Davis from Rangers upon their promotion in the summer of 2012. He scored on his debut against Manchester City and went on to become an important member of the squad in the coming years. He scored five goals in 34 league games in 2015/16, his best goalscoring season for the club.
The Northern Ireland international’s influence waned, however, and he returned to Rangers on loan in January 2019 — a transfer that was made permanent.
Attacking midfield: Dusan Tadic
Age: 34
Current club: Ajax
Southampton appearances: 162
Tadic could have possibly joined a top-six club during the best spell of his Southampton career. Instead, he left for Ajax last summer after an inconsistent season for the Saints. Little did anybody know how much he needed a move.
The Serbia international has been a revelation in Amsterdam, scoring 103 goals in 237 appearances across all competitions. His magical display against Real Madrid in the Champions League functioned as a retort to those who criticised Tadic for swapping the Premier League for the Eredivisie in 2018. It was clearly the right move for an immensely talented player who helped Ajax reach the semi-finals of the Champions League.
Striker: Shane Long
Age: 36
Current club: Reading
Southampton appearances: 243
Long scored 10 Premier League goals in 2015/16, the only time he has ever reached double figures in a top-flight season. The Irish striker has always been best known for his propensity to chase lost causes and get in behind the opposition, but his goal tally has taken a big hit in recent years.
He returned to Reading at the start of this current campaign but a tally of just one Championship goal was clearly not enough to prevent The Royals dropping out of the division.
Substitutes
Koeman also had plenty of capable options on the bench, some of whom are still with the club.
James Ward-Prowse has gone on to be an 11-capped England international and make over 400 appearances for the club. Oriol Romeu now plays for Girona.
Cedric Soares and Maya Yoshida are now at Fulham (on loan from Arsenal) and Schalke 04 respectively.
Maarten Stekelenburg, the substitute goalkeeper in 2015/16, is back at Ajax, while Jay Rodriguez recently helped Burnley return to the Premier League under Vincent Kompany, and Charlie Austin is at Swindon Town.
Italian striker Graziano Pelle made 30 league appearances in 2015/16, scoring 10 goals, but his minutes were reduced towards the end of the campaign ahead of a move to China. He recently played for Parma.
