Southampton's €4m regret turned out to be Chelsea's blockbuster transfer dream | OneFootball

Southampton could have signed Didier Drogba and Florent Malouda for a combined €4m but their resistance turned out to be Chelsea's blockbuster transfers.

Looking back on Southampton's history, it's easy to realize the ton of errors they must've committed to not win a major trophy this long despite being a Premier League regular. Or the extremely rare feat to zig-zag between the Top Flight and Championship for a long time now.

But not to discredit the Saints' journey, they've surely evolved, even in terms of their regrets. While currently, their painful transfer points revolve around fumbled departures, back then it was missing crucial signings.

Let's deep delve into one such historical tale of when Southampton missed the duo that opened up Chelsea's golden era's success gates- Didier Drogba and Florent Malouda.

So, much before the duo's reunion at Chelsea changed the course of the Blues' history, Southampton had a chance to add them both to their roster for their Guingamp heroics in the 2002/03 season.

Surprisingly, all it would have taken the Saints was a modest €4m outlay and some courage to back their instincts. But while the fee didn't interfere, Southampton hesitated upon listening about Drogba from their scout Ray.

Southampton's €4m hesitation haunts their history even now

As per The Athletic (via Football League World), the then chairman Rupert Lowe once revealed: "Gordon Strachan was the manager, and he sent Ray to watch Drogba. Ray came back and said he was a good player but that he didn’t have a very good touch. We ended up not buying Malouda and Drogba, largely as a result of Ray’s judgment."

Imagine what history might have looked like if Southampton trusted their gut instead of a scout’s scepticism about Drogba’s first touch.

Well, not to sell fantasies, but still, to say, the duo who won every major feat, including the Champions League together, the Malouda-Drogba pair just might’ve been the spark to end Southampton’s long-running trophy drought.