Southampton's 10 worst signings of all time - Guido Carillo #3 | OneFootball

For a while, Southampton were one of the most exciting teams in England, and it was largely down to their excellent recruitment. They showed time and time again, a knack for unearthing gems, with the likes of Sadio Mane, Virgil van Dijk, Toby Alderweireld and Danny Ings all showing out for the side at one time or another.

They didn't always get it spot on, though, and they've actually been guilty of signing some pretty poor players over the years too. These are undeniably the 10 worst signings in the club's history, though.

10 Saphir Taider

As a loan deal, it's harsh to label Saphir Taider as one of the worst transfer signings in Southampton history, but the sheer disaster that it proved to be was more than enough to justify his inclusion. Having signed on loan from Inter Milan in exchange for Dani Osvaldo, more on him later, the midfielder made his debut in a pre-season friendly against Bayer Leverkusen in August 2014.

Turns out, that was all the Saints needed to see before they sent him back to Italy just a month later. An official club statement claimed Taider had "failed to live up to the high levels of commitment expected" from Southampton players. What a disaster.

9 Neil McCann

Neil McCann wasn't a terrible player by any means, but he just couldn't stay healthy during his time at Southampton. The winger had spent five years at Rangers and emerged as a serious talent prior to his move to the south coast. Injuries prevented him from ever having a serious run in the Saints' team, though, and he played just 40 league games across three seasons.

He failed to score a single goal in that time too and in January 2006, just two and a half years after McCann joined Southampton, he was released from his contract. He's not had the worst run in this list, but considering the hopes that surrounded his move, it goes down as a massive disappointment.

8 Nigel Quashie

Signing someone from your biggest rivals is risky. Doing so and immediately making him your captain is seriously rolling the dice, but that's exactly what Southampton did when they signed Nigel Quashie in January 2005. They paid just over £2m for his services, but things didn't get off to a great start. Just five months after he joined, the club were relegated to the Championship.

After half a season in the second tier, he bolted back to the Premier League, joining West Bromwich Albion for just over £1m. The midfielder did score a few goals for the Saints, but considering his reputation as an ex-Portsmouth player, the fact he got relegated with the team as captain, and was then sold for half of what they paid just 12 months later, this has to go down as a shocking move.

7 Wesley Hoedt

Considering he played more league games for Southampton than anyone else on this list, it might seem a little harsh to put Wesley Hoedt so high up. After all, they certainly got plenty of minutes out of the defender. The only issue was just how much he struggled in the Premier League.

The centre-back looked out of place from the get-go, and it's a miracle he remained in the team for so long. He was regularly a weak link in the side and couldn't quite keep up with the pace of the English game. The club spent £15m on him in 2017 too which was a huge gamble that just didn't pay off. After 41 league games, they gave up on Hoedt and loaned him out for three consecutive years before he joined Anderlecht in 2021.

6 Imants Bleidelis

After having success signing Marians Pahars from Latvian side Skonto in 1998, Southampton tried to repeat the feat by returning to the club and signing Imants Bleidelis, but it didn't quite work out this time. After blowing over £600,000 on the midfielder, he made just two appearances in the league for the Saints.

Two appearances over the course of three years tells you all you need to know about his tenure in England, and he was released for absolutely nothing in January 2002. As far as gambles go, this one was a pretty big miss. Still, at least Pahars worked out nicely for them.

5 Jelle van Damme

After playing for Ajax in the Champions League, Jelle Van Damme had built a strong reputation as a serviceable defender, so when Southampton purchased him for £2.5m in 2004, it was considered a decent move. He'd fallen out of favour at the Dutch side, but the notion was that he'd still have plenty to offer the Saints.

Turns out, he didn't. He couldn't find his feet in England and played just six league games for the club as they were relegated to the Championship. Following their relegation, he was immediately loaned to Werder Bremen, where he made eight league appearances before joining Anderlecht in 2006 for just £500,000. A £2m loss in just two years. Crikey.

4 Paul Onuachu

The most recent signing on this list, Paul Onuachu has to be kicking himself these days. The striker signed with Southampton earlier this year for a huge £18m as the club looked for solutions and help during their relegation battle. It made sense too, with the forward being on fire for Genk in the Belgian league.

They needed firepower, so why not bring in a proven goalscorer like Onuachu, right? Well, unfortunately, his form didn't move to England with him, and he was utterly toothless in front of goal for the Saints. Having scored 16 goals in the first half of the season with Genk, he failed to find the back of the net at all in England and finished the campaign with 11 appearances and 0 goals for the Saints. They were relegated back to the Championship, and he was loaned out this year to Trabzonspor.

He's rediscovered his finishing touch in Turkey, so maybe it's just an England thing. Still, his future at Southampton might not be over just yet, as there is the possibility that he returns from his loan spell and slots into the team. If he doesn't, though, this move could end up looking even worse soon.

3 Guido Carrillo

Guido Carrillo's move to Southampton still boggles the mind. Having performed admirably enough for AS Monaco, the Saints snapped up the forward in 2018 and spent around £19m to do so. With a transfer fee like that, you'd have expected the side to be invested in the forward, but he was in and out of the team so fast, you'd be forgiven for never noticing he was there in the first place.

After joining the club in January 2018, he played seven Premier League games throughout the rest of that season, but then that was it. He never played for the team again, and they shipped him out on loan to Leganes for two years. After that, he was allowed to join Elche on a free transfer, meaning Southampton and made a £19m loss on the man after just seven games in the shirt. Absolutely wild.

2 Dani Osvaldo

Dani Osvaldo held so much promise when he first joined Southampton. The club were looking for a natural goalscorer, and it seemed like they could have had one in the striker, but his antics at the side far overshadowed anything he did on the pitch and his time at the club was destined for disaster.

Signed for £13m, he was supposed to offer a long-term solution up front for the club, but after just 13 league games and three goals, he was gone. Why? Well, he was suspended by the club for headbutting his captain, Jose Fonte in training. It's safe to say the club weren't happy, and he was immediately loaned out to Juventus for the remainder of the 2013/14 season.

He never played for the club again and after another loan move the following summer to Inter - which made things even worse with the swap with Taider - and then one later that season to Boca Juniors, he was let go for free in the summer of 2015. It was a £13m loss in just two years, but at that point, they were probably just happy to get rid.

1 Ali Dia

Come on, you had to know this would be number one, right? Sure, Ali Dia's move to Southampton may not have cost the club much money, but it sure did cost them some of their dignity. After the forward conned Graeme Souness into believing he was the cousin of George Weah, Dia was given a chance at Southampton and signed on a free in November 1996.

The issue is he was a total fraud and had no experience playing football at an even remotely elite level and it showed instantly when he made his debut for the Saints against Arsenal. Replacing the injured Matt Le Tissier in the first half, he was so bad that Dia himself was subbed off later in the game. He was released by the club just two weeks later and never came close to playing top-tier football again.

It's absurd that an amateur like Dia even managed to con his way into a Premier League game, but he did and that's what makes him the worst signing in Southampton history.

Check out the table below of all 10 of Southampton's worst signings ever and the careers they had with the Saints.

All statistics courtesy of Transfermarkt.