Liverpool legend labelled ‘horrendous’ when he first played in England by former team-mate

Liverpool went through a spell of plucking the best talent Southampton had to offer and bringing them to Anfield - but former Saints man Shane Long believes one modern day Reds legend was 'horrendous' at first glance.

Retired striker Long was on the books at Southampton between 2014 and 2022, scoring 37 goals in 245 games for the Saints in that time.

Over the years, plenty of Saints players were brought to the North West by the Anfield club.

Adam Lallana was the first to move in a reported £25m move in the summer of 2014, and was joined by striker Rickie Lambert, who completed a £4m transfer to his boyhood club.

A year later, the pair were followed to Anfield from St Mary's by right-back Nathaniel Clyne, who was signed for a £12.5m transfer fee.

Liverpool broke the world record transfer fee for a defender when they paid Southampton £75m for Virgil van Dijk to join the Anfield club at the start of 2018.

It is fair to say that, despite the big fee, it has unquestionably been justified and money well spent, as the former Celtic man has gone on to establish himself among the world's elite central defenders.

And of course, who could forget Sadio Mane's contribution to Liverpool after he moved to Merseyside.

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Mane joined Liverpool from Southampton in the summer of 2016 for an initial £34m, and went on to form a much vaunted attack along with Mo Salah and Roberto Firmino as the trio spearheaded the Anfield club's success under Jurgen Klopp.

Mane scored 120 goals in 269 games for Liverpool, winning the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup, League Cup, FIFA Club World Cup and UEFA Super Cup.

Mane's time at Liverpool came to an end in 2022 when he moved to Bayern Munich, and he now plays in the Saudi Pro League for Al Nassr after just a year spent in the Bundesliga.

And it was Mane whom Long was not initially convinced with when the Senegal international arrived at St Mary's, initially claiming he was 'horrendous', but that then Saints boss Ronald Koeman was able to smooth his rough edges and the winger was destined to head to the top, according to the former Republic of Ireland forward.

Speaking on the Fozcast podcast, Long said: "When Sadio first came, for the first six months, he was horrendous.

"Obviously he wasn't horrendous, I take that back. He had these moments where you thought, 'Oh, he's got something'. You used to kick him and you'd hurt yourself. He's got that strength about him. But he's only small, he's quick."

He continued: "But he could take on everybody and kick it into row Z trying to cross the ball. He could run it off the pitch, those sort of things.

"But then Koeman managed to coach him and train him and stuff, and he just hit this run of form and you thought, 'Oh my god, this guy can just go to the very, very top'."