Southampton will hope they're not the Championship's nearly-men this season, falling short of promotion straight back up to the Premier League by unsuccessfully winning the lottery of the playoffs.
Russell Martin's men are limping over the line to those playoff matches to come if their defeat to Stoke City the weekend just gone was anything to go by, allowing Steven Schumacher's men to pick up a 1-0 win to secure their second-tier status with just three weak shots on target all game.
There will be more motivation in the ranks to perform when they travel to Leeds United on the final pulsating day of the regular season, however, knowing that the Whites could well end up being their playoff final opponents at Wembley after the showdown at Elland Road.
If they do return to the top-flight at the first time of asking, the Saints won't want to burn money recklessly like they have done in the past, such as with one former £8m buy who is now largely forgotten about at St. Mary's.
Jordy Clasie's transfer to Southampton
Jordy Clasie's move to the Saints back in 2015 would have been seen as a coup, considering the ex-Feyenoord's midfielder importance to his Eredivisie employers before uprooting to England and then Southampton executive director Les Reed stating that the Dutchman was "one of the most highly-sought after midfielders in Europe".
Clasie ended up amassing 189 appearances in total playing at De Kuip before relocating to the then-Premier League side, picking up nine goals and 26 assists as a steady and reliable holding midfield presence.
Signing on the dotted line at Southampton on a bumper five-year deal, this wouldn't be the only notable transfer blunder sanctioned by Ronald Koeman and Co in that transfer window with Juanmi also joining alongside Clasie.
Joining the Saints for a hefty £5m on top of Clasie's £8m price tag, the Spanish attacker would never find the back of the net from 19 unmemorable appearances before leaving after just one disastrous season.
At least Juanmi wasn't the South Coast club's problem anymore after this brief stint, but Clasie would end up remaining on the Southampton books for far longer as an even bigger failure.
Clasie's time at Southampton
The former Feyenoord man would make only 49 appearances for Southampton across two full campaigns, struggling to ever make a spot in the starting eleven his own before being shipped out on loan to both Club Brugge and back to Feyenoord two seasons on the trot.
1. GK – Kelvin Davis
2. RB – Cedric Soares
3. CB – Virgil Van Dijk
4. CB – Jose Fonte
5. LB – Ryan Bertrand
6. CDM – Victor Wanyama
7. CM – Steven Davis (Jordy Clasie)
8. CM – James Ward-Prowse
9. RW – Sadio Mane
10. ST- Graziano Pelle
11. LW – Duscan Tadic
Only gifted 30 minutes on his debut for Southampton too, having had to wait until October for his first taste of action owing to bad luck with injuries, Clasie's lack of minutes during his forgettable time with the Saints arguably wasn't helped by stars such as Victor Wanyama and James Ward-Prowse excelling in the middle of the park whilst he was trying to cut his teeth.
Clasie did muster up weak numbers in his new location compared to his exploits in his native Netherlands as well to justify the lack of consistent game-time, only picking up two goals and one assist in total.
Describing his Saints ordeal as "horrible" when opening up whilst out on loan in Belgium, Southampton were left cursing this deal even further when you examine how high the Dutch flop's excessive wage was at St. Mary's which came in as being two times higher than Kyle Walker-Peters' current pay-packet.
Jordy Clasie's wage at Southampton
As an established Premier League side, Southampton weren't exactly cautious when handing out big wages to their stars when Clasie walked in through the door nearly ten years ago.
During the 2016/17 season in particular, Southampton's highest earner, Manolo Gabbiadini, was pocketing an eye-watering £80k per week despite going on to leave the Saints eventually after just 60 games.
1. Manolo Gabbiadini
£80k per week
2. Jose Fonte
£75k per week
3. Virgil Van Dijk
£65k per week
4. Martin Caceres
£65k per week
5. Sofiane Boufal
£60k per week
Clasie's high £40k-per-week salary wouldn't see him enter into the top five highest earners at the Saints, however, but it's staggering to see that the one-time Saints dud once earned just £25k-per-week less than his fellow compatriot in Liverpool colossus Virgil Van Dijk.
Van Dijk now pockets a ridiculous £220k-per-week playing for Jurgen Klopp's Reds, whilst Clasie sees his underwhelming career out back in the Eredivisie with AZ Alkmaar on just £18.7k-per-week.
Clasie's pay packet at Southampton would see him earn two times that of current Saints star Walker-Peters' £20k-per-week wage though, even whilst the ex-Tottenham Hotspur man has nearly eclipsed the Dutchman's appearances for the Saints overall just this campaign with 43 matches played.
Walker-Peters will be crucial to Martin's men in their battle to win the playoffs, desperate to return to the Premier League at the first time of asking with his South Coast employers where he's shone before.
Moreover, Clasie's wage saw him rake in £10k-per-week more than Che Adams even whilst the Saints striker continues to fire in goal after goal for Martin's promotion-chasers to take his ever-growing season tally to 17 for the campaign.
When adding all up the numbers, therefore, Clasie would have cost Southampton a jaw-dropping £12.1m in his original transfer fee and his wage costs to go down as a very poor misfire.
With Martin at the helm, Southampton will hope they can break back into the top-flight after all the drama of the playoffs is over and done with no repeat blunders like Clasie purchased if they do end up returning to the Premier League.
Southampton's big-money flop would be worth as much as £36m in 2024 money
Southampton paid way over the odds for this dud 12 years ago.
ByKelan SarsonApr 14, 2024
