Southampton move against Man Utd that made them £20m-plus

The Saints certainly got the better of United when it came to the transfer of Morgan Schneiderlin.

The late 2000’s and early 2010’s proved to be a very interesting period for Southampton Football Club.

Having been relegated from the Championship down into League One at the end of 2008/09, within a few seasons, the Saints would once again be a Premier League side come 2012/13, a status they would go on to maintain for a decade before their relegation last summer.

Many notable names played a key role for the club during that period. Rickie Lambert is one name that springs to mind, for example, as is Adam Lallana.

Frenchman Morgan Schneiderlin also played an important role for the Saints following his arrival at the club in 2008, too.

Morgan Schneiderlin’s time at Southampton was a successful one

Arriving from Strasbourg, the midfielder would go on to suffer relegation during his first season at the club, but from then on in, things got much better.

Indeed, by the time that the Saints had won promotion back to the Championship at the end of 2010/11, Schneiderlin had already racked up 111 Saints appearances and established himself as a key player at St Mary’s.

This continued into 2011/12 as Southampton went on to secure automatic promotion to the Premier League in their first season back up in the Championship, with Schneiderlin playing 42 league games in midfield that season and impressing.

Such was Schneiderlin’s ability and impact on the team that once promoted to the top-flight, not only was he not replaced, he continued to be a key player for the club as they consolidated their place in the top-flight over the next few seasons.

And by the time Manchester United came calling in 2015, the French midfielder had racked up 95 Premier League appearances for the Saints and been capped 10 times at international level by France.

Despite this, however, the Saints were the clear winners when it came to the reported £24 million deal that sent Schneiderlin to Old Trafford, with the French international underwhelming at United.

Morgan Schneiderlin underwhelmed as a Man United player

Having signed for a significant transfer fee, the Frenchman was expected to play a key role in Louis van Gaal’s midfield, but unfortunately, he and United both underwhelmed.

Although he featured often in that first season at Old Trafford, appearing 39 times in all competitions, his lack of importance to the team by the end of the season was perhaps highlighted by the fact he was an unused substitute in both the FA Cup semi-finals and final at Wembley as United won the competition.

That summer, Jose Mourinho replaced van Gaal as boss at United, and things got worse for Schneiderlin, who went on to make just just eight appearances in all competitions before being sold permanently to Everton in January 2017.

By his own admission, Schneiderlin lost himself as a player during his time at Old Trafford, telling the Daily Mail in 2023: “I was too affected by what [manager] Louis van Gaal was asking from me,”

“I lost me as a player. It was not me on the field.

“It was not just the manager’s fault, it was my fault, too. My role was not the one I had at Southampton. I felt restricted in my game. I felt they wanted to change things in me. I was not thinking as me, I was thinking about what pleased the coach.

“When you reach that point, every pass you make, everything you do, you don’t play free. Something stopped me from being who I was. I wanted so much to do well and it is one of the most frustrating things ever.”

Southampton won Morgan Schneiderlin deal and Man United lost it

Although they ultimately sold one of their best players at the time, its clear that given how things worked out for Schneiderlin at Old Trafford, Southampton were the clear winners of the deal that saw him leave St Mary’s.