The Southampton Blueprint

How Saints' bold recruitment strategy pocketed them a profit - and what their competitors can learn.

Relegation is painful. But a cool €100 million will ease the burn.

Southampton may have failed in the Premier League, but they certainly haven’t in one specific area of the the market. Their approach - scouring top academies for under-utilised talent - is opening new doors for clubs across the pyramid, writes Orlando Valman.

A year ago, Southampton bought Roméo Lavia for €16 million. The year before that, they bought Tino Livramento for €6 million.

An ACL injury to Livramento at the end of his first season at St Mary’s meant he spent almost the exact same amount of time on the pitch during his short-lived Southampton career as Lavia did: they both played just over 2000 minutes, and made just under thirty Premier League starts each.

This summer, the club sold Lavia for ~€62m and Livramento for ~€38m.

In just thirty games of Premier League football, Lavia’s value quadrupled whilst Livramento’s increased sixfold; the pair made Southampton a handy profit of just under €80 million.