Southampton are a club lauded for their smart recruitment, yet over the summer they competed in a transfer saga that dominated their business.

Despite going on to purchase plenty more players, all of whom were more understated younger talents, they seemed fixated on bringing Takumi Minamino to St Mary’s on a permanent deal.

Having impressed for Liverpool during his intermittent spell last season, with his goals instrumental in their FA Cup and League cup successes. He scored three in the former competition, and four in the latter.

However, he had spent half of the season before that on loan at the Saints, where he managed just two goals.

If this wasn’t reason enough to go for his permanent signature, his form since moving to AS Monaco should be proof enough that they got away with one.

The French giants snuck in to steal the signing from under their noses in a deal worth £15.5m.

With hindsight, fans on the south coast can thank their lucky stars. With just three goal contributions across his first 12 games for the club, he has hardly set his new surroundings alight.

In fact, his performances have already seen him rated as the worst Ligue 1 signing of the summer.

The French publication Le Quotidien Du Sport wrote a rather damning report on his start to life, labelling him “too frail” and “struggling” with the intensity of the league.

If he cannot compete with the intensity in Ligue 1, there is no chance he would have been a success had Southampton taken the plunge to sign him.

Martin Semmens was clearly a big fan of his, as was Ralph Hasenhuttl, yet they will both be relieved to have dodged this transfer blunder.

Their side, following a solid 1-0 win over AFC Bournemouth, are now looking up as they have crawled from the relegation zone to 14th.

It can be said that had they spent all that money on Minamino, they would not have been able to bring in some of the other names currently bringing them joy.

This transfer would have been an all-around disaster for the club and they can count themselves lucky that he does not play for them.