The day has finally come. After a summer of new stars arriving and old favourites departing, the transfer window is about to reach its climax.
For Southampton, who knows what it will entail. They tried to do their business early and have already welcomed 12 new faces, but late drama could still yet unfold.
It has happened in the past, and some of these signings have turned out to surpass all expectations, something Saints fans will be hoping might happen again.
But who have Southampton signed on deadline day before, and how did they work out?
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Virgil Van Dijk (Celtic)
Starting off with, what is safe to say, one of the Saints’ best ever transfers, at least financially, Virgil Van Dijk became a Southampton player on September 1st, 2015 - and the rest is history.
After signing from Celtic for just £13m, the Dutchman went on to make 80 appearances for the club, keeping 23 clean sheets and netting seven times in all competitions.
Although his exit from the club in 2018 was far from pretty, with Van Dijk handing in a transfer request and, subsequently, been told to train alone while his future was being resolved, Southampton certainly received a nifty piece of compensation following his departure.
Liverpool paid £75m in the January to secure his services which, at the time, was a world record fee for a defender, and the transfer saga came to a close.
Despite only playing for two and a half seasons, the fee alone makes this deadline day transfer one of the best in the club’s history.
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Sadio Mane (RB Salzburg)
Another player pinched in the end by Liverpool – although that could be a list in itself – Sadio Mane joined Southampton exactly a year prior to Van Dijk, arriving on the 1st of September 2014.
Joining for £11.8m for Red Bull Salzburg, Mane played 75 games in all competitions for the Saints, netting 25 and assisting a further 12.
The Senegalese winger was lighting quick, unfathomably tricky and had a keen eye for goal, something he showed many times at Southampton, with the best example coming after scoring a hat-trick in just two minutes and 56 seconds – the fastest in Premier League history.
After just two years on the south coast, Mane moved to Liverpool in a deal worth £36m, over triple what the Saints paid just a couple of years prior.
Of all those who have moved on to pastures new, with many heading off to the red half of Merseyside, Mane is still among the more well-liked and respected.
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Toby Alderweireld (Atletico Madrid)
Joining on the same day as Mane, Alderweirald was initially brought in from Atletico Madrid on a season-long loan, with the club wanting to, and believing they had a clause in his contract to, make it permanent at the end of the season.
By New Year’s Day, the Belgian had helped the Saints keep seven clean sheets in 15 games, the best defensive record in the league at the time.
After impressing all season, his parent club were pleased and said he would be part of their plans, whilst the player wanted to stay in the Premier League, with Southampton, appearing to be, his preferred destination.
Irrespective of speculation around Atletico and Southampton’s agreement, the Belgian joined Tottenham Hotspur for £11.5m, with the Saints’ last-gasp £14.2m bid for his services being completely ignored.
Despite threatening legal action, Southampton decided against doing so, putting an end to this transfer saga.
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Samuel Edozie (Man City)
The only man to feature on the list that is still at the club, Samuel Edozie joined from Manchester City for £10m in 2022, making him the third City academy player, behind Gavin Bazunu and Romeo Lavia, to join that summer.
It is safe to say that during his time with Southampton, he has struggled to live up to expectations, with the 21-year-old only scoring six and assisting three in 62 games for the club.
However, with age on his side, there is still plenty of time for the winger to prove himself as a top player, although this may happen outside of St Mary’s as he is often linked with a move away.
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Duje Ćaleta-Car (Marseille)
The final player on this list is one who certainly didn’t live up to expectations, this being Duje Caleta-Car, who joined from Marseille for £8m in 2022.
The Croatian was a relatively big name in France after playing over 100 times for them, and was even linked with a move for Liverpool a year prior during their injury crisis in defence.
However, after quite a poor year on the south coast, he departed for Lyon on loan in a move that was made permanent this season – with the club making a loss after selling him for just £5m.
He can certainly be considered as a disappointing signing, and is, by far, the worst deadline day acquisition on this list.
