Some of Southampton’s worst acquisitions, such as Saphir Taider and Neil McCann, have marred their reputation for stellar hiring.
Their hiring of Nigel Quashie as captain from their rival team turned out to be a terrible decision, resulting in relegation and a subsequent loss in value.
Despite receiving much of playing time, Wesley Hoedt struggled in the Premier League and couldn’t keep up with the English game, which made him a disappointing acquisition.
Because to their superb hiring practices, Southampton was for a while one of the most intriguing teams in England. They repeatedly demonstrated a talent for finding jewels, as evidenced by the efforts of Sadio Mane, Virgil van Dijk, Toby Alderweireld, and Danny Ings.
They didn’t always get it right, though, and over the years they have also been accountable for signing some very subpar players. But without a doubt, these are the top ten worst acquisitions in club history.
Although it would be unfair to classify Saphir Taider’s loan agreement as one of Southampton’s worst transfer deals, the utter failure that it turned out to be more than justifies his inclusion. The midfielder made his professional debut against Bayer Leverkusen in August 2014 after being acquired on loan from Inter Milan in exchange for Dani Osvaldo—more on him later.
That turned out to be all the Saints required to send him back to Italy a month later. Taider allegedly “failed to live up to the high levels of commitment expected” of Southampton players, according to an official club statement. What a catastrophe.
Neil McCann wasn’t a bad player by any stretch of the imagination, but he struggled to keep fit while playing for Southampton. Prior to his transfer to the south coast, the winger spent five years at Rangers where he developed into a significant potential. However, due to injuries, he was never able to make a significant impact on the Saints’ squad and only appeared in 40 league games over the course of three seasons.
In that period, he also failed to score a goal, and two and a half years after McCann joined Southampton, in January 2006, he was let go from his contract. Although he hasn’t had the worst run on this list, the expectations that preceded his transfer make it a huge letdown.
