Southampton were relegated from the Premier League down to the Championship after an 11-year stint at the top level at the end of the 2022/23 campaign.
The Saints enjoyed many years in the top-flight and enjoyed some adventures on the European stage, which included a 2-1 win against Inter at St. Mary's in 2016.
They were able to use their position within the division, and when they were in Europe, to splash the cash on new signings to bolster their squad.
Who are Southampton's most expensive signings?
Tino Livramento
£22.6m*
Danny Ings
£21.7m
Kamaldeen Sulemana
£21.6m
Jannik Vestergaard
£21.6m
Sadio Mane
£19.8m
*Includes the sell-on fee that Chelsea received from his move to Newcastle United this summer.
As you can see in the table above, Southampton have been willing to shell out millions on players over the years but they have not always been able to unearth a success like Sadio Mane or Danny Ings.
One signing the club had a nightmare with was their deal to sign central midfielder Mario Lemima from Italian giants Juventus in the summer of 2017.
How much did Southampton pay for Lemina?
The Saints reportedly splashed out an initial £15.4m to sign the Gabon international from the Serie A side, in a move that could have cost up to £18.1m including add-ons.
Vice-chairman, at the time, Les Reed hailed the midfield maestro as an "outstanding" player and stated that the signing was a "statement" of intent from the club as he had featured in the Champions League final for his former team earlier that year.
The fee that the club paid was just shy of the then-club-record £16m they spent to sign Sofiane Boufal from Lille the previous year, which illustrates how expensive Lemina was at the time.
He arrived at St. Mary's off the back of a season as a rotation option for Juventus.
The 6-foot technician averaged a Sofascore rating of 6.92 across 19 Serie A appearances and only started eight matches.
Lemina produced 1.9 tackles and interceptions per game and came out on top in 50% of his individual duels to go along with one goal and one assist, as per Sofascore.
His best form for Juventus, however, came during the 2015/16 campaign.
The Gabon international averaged a Sofascore rating of 7.26 across ten league outings and contributed with an eye-catching 3.9 tackles and interceptions per match, which only Claudio Marchisio (4.9) was able to better within the squad.
He also showcased his impressive ability in possession with 2.2 dribbles per game and a sublime success rate of 96%. This shows that opposition players found it almost impossible to dispossess the central midfielder when he had the ball at his feet and was moving up the pitch.
These performances were seemingly convincing enough to make Southampton spend a significant amount of money on his services ahead of the 2017/18 Premier League campaign, with Reed and then-manager Mauricio Pellegrino bringing him to England.
How many appearances did Lemina make for Southampton?
The 30-year-old flop made 52 appearances for the Saints in all competitions over the course of his four-year stay on the south coast.
Lemina did, however, enjoy a fantastic debut season with the club as he became an instant success with his consistently impressive displays in the middle of the park.
The Gabon international averaged a Sofascore rating of 6.98 across 25 top-flight outings and caught the eye with his defensive and ball-carrying attributes.
He made 3.6 tackles and interceptions per game and showcased his strength with a duel success rate of 61%, as per Sofascore, which showed that opposition players rarely got the better of him in physical contests.
Out of every player with at least five Premier League appearances, only Oriol Romeu (2.7) made more tackles per match than Lemina (2.2) as the ex-Old Lady ace displayed his ability to win possession back for his side on a regular basis.
The former Marseille star once again showed off his dribbling skills with 2.2 successful dribbles and an excellent success rate of 89% across the top-flight campaign.
However, Lemina's form dipped throughout the following season as the central midfielder averaged a Sofascore rating of 6.89 over 21 appearances and only won 53% of his battles, to go along with 1.1 dribbles at a success rate of 64%.
His performance regressing over the course of the 2018/19 campaign led to loan moves to Galatasaray and Fulham over the 2019/20 and 2020/21 seasons respectively.
How much did Southampton sell Lemina for?
Southampton eventually sold the former Juventus maestro to Ligue 1 side Nice for a reported fee of €5.5m (£4.8m) in the summer of 2021.
This means that his value dropped by a staggering £10.6m throughout his four-year spell at St. Mary's, from the initial £15.4m that the club paid to sign him from Italy.
He was never able to follow up on his impressive first season on the south coast and ultimately turned out to be a poor signing as they did not get much value back on or off the pitch.
Therefore, Reed had a mare with the signing of the ex-Marseille gem in the summer of 2017 and he may look back on that as one of his worst pieces of business during his time at the club.
Where is Lemina now?
The central midfielder, who was once hailed as "combative" by journalist Josh Bunting, is currently playing for Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League after his move to the Molineux from Nice in January of this year.
He has averaged a Sofascore rating of 6.85 across six top-flight matches so far this season and has completed 0.8 dribbles with a success rate of 50%. The former Juventus dynamo has also lost 51% of his individual duels for Gary O'Neil's side so far this term.
These statistics suggest that Lemina has not been able to get back to the levels that he showed during the 2017/18 campaign for Southampton and that the club's decision to sell him in 2021 has not come back to bite them.
However, they may well still regret their move to sign him from Turin in 2017 as his market value dropped considerably by the time they were able to cash in on his services.