Eyebrows were raised with Southampton paid £12 million for Shane Long in summer 2014.
He had only been at Hull for seven months and had not exactly lit up the KC Stadium with his goal scoring. He only hit the back of the net four times during his stint with the club.
Long's time at Southampton has been a success, though. He has established himself as first choice for Ronald Koeman and has ten goals so far this season.
Speaking to the Southern Daily Echo, Southampton manager Ronald Koeman stated he believes Long was worth every penny of the £12 million which the club paid for his services.
We always are analysing new players and why we're interested in them.
Of course, it's also about money because everybody knows that we can't spend much more than £12m for one player.
He was an expensive player, I agree at that time, but I think we did our job very good.
He's now showing that money wasn't too much for Shane Long.
Koeman also said that even at 29, the Tipp man is still improving.
When Shane came he was that type of player, his offensive qualities, but I think his technical capacity in one touch, in control, to understand the movements, he's improving.
That’s all about training. Maybe before Southampton he wasn't used to that kind of training session, and that's maybe the difference.
Still players from that age, 26, 27, when they come to Southampton they can learn and improve themselves, and that's good.
Of course, he's full of confidence, he's showing that confidence, he’s scoring goals, he’s hassling defenders and that's what we like to have in front.
