Portsmouth FC may always have Southampton transfer envy - They missed out on Man Utd‘s millions | OneFootball

Southampton were the major winners in this transfer scenario.

Portsmouth and Southampton’s long-standing rivalry as cities goes back before the existence of either football club, which highlights how deep-rooted the hatred is between these two sides.

Given the fact that there is such bad blood between the two sides, any opportunity available to get one up over the other will be taken immediately, especially if it greatly benefits the outfit doing so.

Although recent times have seen both clubs compete at a similar level, with the Saints enjoying success further up the English footballing pyramid, that wasn’t the case in 2008.

17 years ago, Pompey had just finished eighth place in the Premier League and were FA Cup holders, now preparing for a season in the Europa League ahead of them.

Whereas Southampton retained their Championship status by the skin of their teeth and looked to be a million miles away from matching the competitiveness of their local rivals.

There wasn’t much for Saints supporters to brag about, especially to Pompey fans who were still riding the high of clinching the world’s most famous cup competition whilst almost watching their sworn enemies succumb to relegation.

However, there would soon be an opportunity for the St. Mary’s faithful to get excited, at the huge expense of arch-rivals Portsmouth.

Southampton beat out Portsmouth to secure extremely important Morgan Schneiderlin deal

A young midfielder had begun to emerge on the radar of multiple English teams due to his impressive performances for Strasbourg and appearances for the French youth teams.

Morgan Schneiderlin had established himself as one of Le Racing’s best players before they suffered relegation from Ligue 1 in 2008.

Portsmouth were immediately interested in signing the Frenchman, but he turned them down due to concerns over the amount of game time he would receive at Fratton Park.

Instead, the Saints swooped in and struck a £1.2 million deal for the highly-rated defensive midfielder, who was just 18 at the time of his move.

Life didn’t start brilliantly for the midfielder at St. Mary’s, as the South Coast outfit were relegated from the second-tier during his first campaign with them.

However, from there he quickly became one of Southampton’s best operators and played an instrumental role in securing promotions from League One all the way up to the top-flight by 2012.

Pompey suffered contrasting fortunes and were in a slump down towards the bottom of the EFL, watching on as their rivals basked in the glory they previously enjoyed, with a player they tried to sign at the heart of the project.

Southampton sold Morgan Schneiderlin on for a hefty profit

After multiple years in the Premier League, Schneiderlin’s consistent performances weren’t going unnoticed by top clubs.

His work-rate, technical prowess and ability to control the midfield was beginning to bring interest from teams further up the division, which the Saints ultimately couldn’t resist forever.

In February 2013, the Frenchman was Southampton's captain and signed a new contract to commit his future to the club. However, just two years later, his time in the South Coast came to an end.

European giants Manchester United had offered £24 million as well as add-ons for his services, which was a ginormous profit on the £1.2 million fee the Saints paid for Schneiderlin seven years prior.

Southampton couldn’t refuse this bid and subsequently watched on as the midfielder moved on to Old Trafford.

Despite winning the FA Cup and Community Shield, he never managed to hit the same heights at United that he had previously done with the Saints and was sold on to Everton in January 2017 having made just shy of 50 appearances for the Red Devils.

Ultimately, it turned out that his time at Southampton would be the best spell of his career, one which saw promotions, historic wins in the Premier League and a consistent run in the French national team.

For Southampton supporters, they got to enjoy watching an extremely talented operator command their midfield for multiple years and the comfort of knowing that he was sold on for a huge amount of money.

Most importantly though, it was their arch-rivals they beat to his signature, which makes everything to do with Schneiderlin’s stint at St. Mary’s all the sweeter.