10 Southampton Foreign Import Strikers Who Were Major Flops

5. Emmanuel Mayuka

Cost: £3,500,000 Games: 11 Goals: 1 Still on the books at Southampton, there is always a possibility that Emmanuel Mayuka may yet come to fulfill the promise he showed when The Guardian named him 85th best footballer in the world two years ago. Thus far, however, his performances in the red and white have not suggested as much. Mayuka was one of the first players Southampton signed on their return to the Premiership, bought for an undisclosed fee believed to be in excess of £3.5 million. The signing was at the time considered to be something of a coup, snatching the pacy young forward from the grasp of a number of bigger clubs who were interested in Mayuka after his 32 goals in 55 games for Young Boys of Bern and starring role as the top scorer in Zambia's shock African Nations victory. Despite the hype, Mayuka struggled to make an impact on the South Coast. Although he made his Saints debut in the opening game of the season, he only managed 10 more appearances, all but one coming off the bench. Signed for his goalscoring prowess, Mayuka netted once for Saints, in a 5-1 League Cup win over Barnsley with Southampton already having scored twice. Mayuka spent last season on loan at Sochaux in France's Ligue 1 where he managed four times his goal successes for Southampton. OK, so 4 in 21 games is not a great strike rate for a forward, but his performances at Sochaux drew some admiring assessments that suggest the 23 year old may still have something to offer. Whether that is for Southampton or somewhere else entirely remains to be seen.