Southampton were even in a position where they could recruit arguably the two best players in the Dutch league last season – Graziano Pelle and Dusan Tadic – as well as one of the very best managers in Ronald Koeman. Would Koeman really have regarded St Mary’s as a step up from Feyenoord a decade ago? Similarly, look at how Swansea were able to bring in Wilfried Bony from the Eredivisie and then fend off interest in him from across Europe.