Southampton will hope they can just get past this tricky season in the Premier League and stay up, with the Saints once recognised as a well-established top-flight club.
Before Russell Martin took on the main managerial reins on the South Coast in the wake of Southampton’s relegation, the Saints had enjoyed some successful seasons in English football’s elite division, with Ronald Koeman even steering his former side to sixth in the league during the 2015/16 campaign.
Whilst Martin wrestles with keeping his side afloat in the here and now, the likes of Koeman and Mauricio Pochettino from yesteryear aimed to clinch European football, with a whole host of memorable players starring at St. Mary’s during their not-so-distant Premier League hay-day.
Top performers for Southampton in the Premier League
Immediately, players such as Graziano Pelle and Dusan Tadic spring to mind as the two skilled and exciting foreign imports really took to the South Coast club.
The 20-time Italy international bagged 23 goals from 68 Premier League outings, whilst his Serbian teammate was more of the provider, amassing a healthy 32 assists from 162 claches when on the books of the top-flight club.
Away from that memorable pair, there is the amazing James Ward-Prowse, with the homegrown Southampton product going on to make a name for himself as a free-kick king.
From a staggering 410 first-team appearances, Ward-Prowse accumulated a mightily impressive 55 goals and 52 assists before the aforementioned relegation suffered by his side in 2023 saw him seek out pastures new with West Ham United.
Of course, there is also Sadio Mane, who is fondly remembered for his time at St. Mary’s, which is perhaps a forgotten chapter of his footballing story now for the average fan looking in, considering his stay at Liverpool after Southampton saw him become one of Jurgen Klopp’s most dependable stars.
Still, the Senegalese ace managed to fire in 25 goals for the Saints from 75 appearances, with a lot of anticipation in the air back in 2019 that Southampton had stumbled upon their next Mane, only for him to go down as an expensive dud.
What happened to Southampton’s next Sadio Mane
The player in question here is Moussa Djenepo, who never managed to live up to the outlandish billing that he was going to be “the next Mane” in 2020.
“Sadio is a big inspiration for me. I like him; he’s a very big player. But I think I can be better if I work hard. Sadio is a very big player, and I’m young and I need to learn more. In the future, we will see. I will do my best to become the next Sadio Mane.”
It was a label he boldly put above his own head when citing the former Saints man as a big inspiration in the way he likes to play as a dangerous winger.
What did pundits and fans alike think about their new star signing when they arrived? Football FanCast’s ‘First Impressions’ series has everything you need.
Sadly, the £14m buy never got going in a bid to replicate the Senegalese’s heroics pulling on a Saints strip.
| Djenepo’s career numbers | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Club played for | Games | Goals | Assists |
| Standard Liege | 91 | 13 | 7 |
| Southampton | 91 | 5 | 5 |
| Antalyaspor | 10 | 2 | 1 |
| Sourced by Transfermarkt | |||
Looking at his career numbers to date in the table above, it’s evident that the 26-year-old’s stay in England was underwhelming, with Djenepo only registering five goals from 91 games playing for his new employers.
Mane managed to pick up 20 more strikes than the Mali international from 15 fewer clashes when he was situated on the South Coast, with Djenepo then sold back to Liege last year for only £3m, £11m less than his original bumper fee.
Branded as an “exciting” talent when first making the move by then Southampton boss Ralph Hassenhuttl, Djenepo is now more known to the St. Mary’s masses as a costly transfer blunder, rather than a shrewd bit of business like Mane who would become a superstar at Liverpool.
