Six players Liverpool have bought from Southampton and their career since

Every club in the world has a certain trait that becomes synonymous with it. For example, clubs like Real Madrid, PSG, and Manchester City carry the trait of spending limitless money to get the player they want. Chelsea have a habit of discarding players that more often than not go on to become stars; case in point, Kevin de Bruyne, Mohamed Salah, and Romelu Lukaku.

Liverpool has a trait that is more well known to Premier League fans i.e. buying good players from Southampton. Although the act of purchasing players from Southampton started in 1903 with Liverpool purchasing Joseph Hoare, Liverpool became kind of a "parent club" for Southampton in 2014 when three players were brought in. Then one player transferred to Liverpool from St. Mary's in 2015, another one in 2016 and then one more in 2018.

Some have been big hits, some have performed decently and some have failed. However, each one has had an interesting story after donning the Red jersey. Let us take a look at the last six players to swap the Hampshire for Merseyside and how their career has been since.

Although the last player to move between the clubs was Danny Ings, this list will only take a look at those players that moved from Southampton to Liverpool.

#1 Rickie Lambert - 4.5 million pounds - 2 June 2014

The first player that Liverpool bought from Southampton was the England striker Rickie Lambert. This was the only transfer between the clubs that absolutely failed.

To be fair, Lambert was more than a decent player in the lower leagues of England. He scored 101 and assisted 20 in 304 appearances for Stockport County, Rochdale, and Bristol Rovers in the English Second Division, League two and League one. His performances at Bristol prompted Southampton to shell out 1.2 million pounds for the then 27-year-old.

He played for Southampton in League One, Championship and then in the Premier League. He scored 115 goals and assisted another 64 in 230 appearances for the Hampshire based club. It was his prolific season for Southampton in 2013 scoring 13 and assisting 11 in 37 appearances which brought him into the limelight and Liverpool, Lambert's boyhood club, snapped him up for 4.5 million pounds.

Although he was originally brought in as a backup striker, Suarez's eventual transfer to Barcelona, Sturridge's injury problems, and the general lack of interest and form of Mario Balotelli, he was subsequently forced into Liverpool's first XI. However, he struggled to get to grips with the top level of English football. He made 36 appearances scoring just 3 goals. He did not fit into the system and never really made an impact at Liverpool.

He then transferred to West Brom in 2015, then to Cardiff in 2016 when he scored 4 goals in 19 appearances before hanging up his boots 2017 after being released by the club.

#2 Adam Lallana - 25 million pounds - 1 July 2014

The second 2014 transfer from Southampton, Lallana came to Liverpool on the back of scoring 59 goals and 48 assists in 260 appearances for the Saints. However, he too struggled to impose himself and couldn't help the club recover in the post-Suarez era.

He did show his silky dribbling and the now famous Cryuff turn in a few matches but never really turned into a reliable player. Also, unfortunately, whenever Lallana started to show any sort of consistency, injuries halted his progress. He did make 41 appearances but managed only 6 goals and 4 assists in his first season.

Lallana started playing more consistently under Jurgen Klopp as he quickly adapted to the gegenpressing. He was one of the most important players in the 16/17 season. However, injuries still plagued him and hampered his progress.

He then fell down the pecking order with the arrival of Oxlade-Chamberlain earlier and then Naby Keita and Fabinho. Since returning from a long term hamstring injury, he has made a handful of appearances in the current season. His performances in his last two appearances against Burnley and Fulham reminded the Liverpool fans of his quality and tireless pressing.

Even though he hasn't dominated, largely due to injuries, he has made himself a bit of a fan favourite and brings the kind of energy that is required for counter-pressing. His transfer from Southampton, therefore, can be called a success.

#3 Dejan Lovren - 20 million pounds - 27 July 14

The self-proclaimed best defender in the world has had an absolute roller coaster of a career at Liverpool. The Croatian centre-back is a decent defender having started out with Dinamo Zagreb and then making 102 appearances for Lyon in Ligue 1. He impressed in France and earned a move to the Premier League when a strong looking Southampton side picked him up for around 9 million pounds. He played well for Southampton making 31 appearances in his solitary season for the Saints.

Liverpool signed the Croatian for 20 million pounds to cover for the impending departure of Daniel Agger. After arriving, he made 38 appearances in his first season. However, he just couldn't establish himself, making error after error. Most people started doubting his price tag after an error-strewn season.

After Klopp's arrival, Lovren formed an unstable partnership with Mamadou Sakho. However, his best moment in a red shirt, of that season or for that matter of his Liverpool career came when he nodded in James Milner's cross to complete the comeback against Borussia Dortmund in the Europa League quarterfinals.

After that season he formed an ever-present but an unstable and leaky partnership with Joel Matip after the departure of Sakho. His form improved drastically in that season and he helped Liverpool reach the top four and the Champions League final. However, for every couple of good displays, Lovren made one high profile error.

After putting in good performances for Croatia in their road to the 2018 FIFA World Cup finals it looked as if Lovren had finally established himself as a proper Liverpool centre-back. However, a pelvis injury before the start of the league season forced Klopp to try a Joe Gomez and Virgil van Dijk partnership at centre-back; and what a partnership they formed! Liverpool were picking up clean sheets as easy as you like.

Further, even after the injury to Joe Gomez, Klopp preferred to play Matip and Lovren dropped to Liverpool's fourth choice centre-back. And now with Matip performing admirably alongside van Dijk, it is hard to imagine Lovren getting many more starts for Liverpool.

His transfer from Southampton falls somewhere between the success and failure category.

#4 Nathaniel Clyne - 12.5 million pounds - 1 July 2015

Talk about an absolute bargain. A top class full-back for 12 million pounds would be considered a joke right now. The second defender to arrive from Southampton, Clyne started at an early age at Crystal Palace and made 137 appearances over 4 seasons. Southampton bought him in 2012 and he made 104 appearances for them before Liverpool snapped him up for 12.5 million in 2015.

He made 52 appearances for the Reds establishing himself as a first choice right-back. He was 'Mr. Consistent' for Liverpool, performing well in every game he played. Not the flashiest full-back, he was a rock at the back and bombed forward whenever he got the opportunity without much fuss.

He then made 41 appearances in the next season and was arguably Liverpool's best player in a disappointing season for the club. However, he suffered a horrible injury in the 17/18 season which ruled him out completely. In that duration, Trent Alexander-Arnold put in impressive displays and made the right-back spot his own.

With Alexander-Arnold becoming one of the first names on the team sheet, Clyne saw his opportunities deplete day by day and thus left on loan to Bournemouth for the season. Clyne is too good to be second choice right-back but it will be a big loss for Liverpool if he decides to leave the club.

His transfer to Liverpool was definitely a success.

#5 Sadio Mane - 30 million pounds - 28 June 2016

The most successful transfer and the first Jurgen Klopp signing on this list, Sadio Mane made a name for himself by scoring goals for fun at RB Salzburg. He had a prolific season scoring 45 and assisting 32 in 87 games.

Southampton cashed in on the then 22-year-old and brought him to St. Mary's for 23 million pounds. He scored 25 and assisted 14 in 75 appearances for Southampton. Even though the numbers dropped slightly due to the increased quality of opponents, the talent was there for everyone to see.

Klopp spotted this talent and signed him as one of the first members of his new look Liverpool. Mane settled into his new life with ease and scored on debut. He made 29 appearances that season scoring 13 and assisting 8 goals.

The next season he was instrumental in helping Liverpool reach the top four and the Champions League final. He even scored in the final, but unfortunately ended up on the losing side. He showed his consistency even in that season scoring 20 and assisting 9 in 44 appearances but was overshadowed by Mohamed Salah's ridiculous goal scoring record.

This season he has arguably been Liverpool's best attacker and has scored 20 and assisted 4 in 39 appearances (at the time of writing). His transfer to Liverpool was definitely a success.

#6 Virgil van Dijk - 75 million pounds - 1 January 2018

The second Klopp signing from Southampton, the Dutchman is arguably the second most successful signing in the list; second, for the reason that his price tag is 2.5 times that of Mane and he has played lesser games as of now.

Van Dijk came into world football at FC Groningen in the Eredivisie where he made 66 appearances. Celtic realised his potential and brought him to the Scottish Premier League in 2013. He set the Scottish footballing stage on fire with solid displays in 115 appearances. To add to exceptional defending, he scored 15 goals and assisted 7 from centre-back.

This prompted Southampton to buy him for a little over 14 million pounds. He made 80 appearances for them over two and a half seasons before making a 75 million pound move to Merseyside, becoming the world's most expensive defender.

Klopp brought him in to stabilise a shaky defence and help Liverpool fans forget the Mamadou Sakho saga. van Dijk found the best way to endear himself to the fans by scoring a winner against Everton on debut. Since then he has been an absolute colossus at the back for a solid Liverpool team. His intelligence, positioning and passing have brought him into the reckoning for the world's best defender alongside the likes of Sergio Ramos and Gerard Pique. He has singlehandedly turned Liverpool's defence into one of the best in the league.

His transfer was also a success. In conclusion, Liverpool, since 2014 have had 2 absolutely magnificent purchases, 2 good buys, 1 debatable and 1 purchase that failed terribly.

Edited by Kingshuk Kusari