Liverpool would have been better off buying Southampton than splashing £170m on six stars, like Sadio Mane and Virgil van Dijk

LIVERPOOL would have been better off simply buying Southampton Football Club, rather than splashing £175million on six stars over the years.

The Reds take on Saints on Sunday afternoon in the Premier League – with a hatful of ex-St Mary's players set to line-up for Jurgen Klopp's men.

Amazingly, Southampton sold 80 per cent of the club to Chinese businessman Gao Jisheng for just £210m last summer… a fraction more than the Reds' recent signings.

In recent seasons, the Reds have raided Southampton for stars including Dejan Lovren, Adam Lallana, Sadio Mane and Virgil van Dijk.

Rickie Lambert and Nathaniel Clyne are just two other big-names to swap St Mary's for Anfield – for a bill totalling around £170m.

Incredibly, an 80 per cent stake in the club – and all the players that fall within it – cost a mere £35m more… roughly the cost of Mane's move north.

The club as a whole, based on those figures, would cost closer to £260m – or perhaps more since the recent TV deal was signed.

With Liverpool using Southampton like a feeder club, we take a look at the players signed in recent years and rated their life at Anfield out of ten…

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