Back in 2009, Alan Pardew managed to complete the signing of a former beetroot factory worker in Rickie Lambert for a fee of £1m, having been drawn to his talents while at Bristol Rovers, where he netted 55 goals in 143 games.

While he became an instant hit with a goal on his debut against Northampton, surely nobody inside St Mary's on that day would've foreseen the striker becoming a club legend and also one of the best signings in Southampton history.

Lambert spent five years on the south coast, racking up 230 appearances while scoring 115 goals for the club - he also found time to register 64 assists.

At the time, £1m would seem a bargain for a man with roughly one goal every three games for Bristol Rovers.

However, given his efforts for the club, the word bargain is an understatement - he is amongst the best captures in Southampton's history.

If you were to calculate inflation using the Bank of England's calculator, Lambert's £1m would be worth £1,351,482.80 in today's money, making his addition seem all the more shrewd.

Of course, we must take into account that Premier League TV money and other aspects of the modern era will somewhat influence that calculation in a footballing sense, although the reality is that Southampton got unbelievable value for money from their initial investment.

Lambert twice won Southampton's Player of the Year award - firstly in 2009/10 and then again in 2011/12 - while he also helped the Saints achieve automatic promotion in that latter campaign after scoring 27 Championship goals and 31 in all competitions.

The 38-year-old also went on to earn international recognition for England, winning 11 caps for the Three Lions - Roy Hodgson even included the striker in his squad for the 2014 World Cup.

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There is simply no denying how incredible of a purchase Lambert was for Southampton, and Pardew was definitely responsible for one of the greatest pieces of business in the club's history - the numbers are there for all to see.

In other news, this piece of Les Reed wizardry was a modern-day bargain for Southampton...