Southampton lost three Premier League games in the space of just six days as they endured a testing Christmas period.

Claude Puel’s side comfortably beat Bournemouth 3-1 at the Vitality Stadium back on December 18 to move up to seventh and six points behind Manchester United, yet they have since lost to Tottenham, West Brom, and Everton.

It means that the Saints have fallen to tenth in the table, and are now 15 points adrift of Jose Mourinho’s United in sixth, the position Southampton finished in last season.

Nonetheless, it has still been a solid first half of the season for Puel’s men, who have won six of their 20 league games, and also reached the last four of the League Cup.

They will face Liverpool next week in a bid to reach the final for the first time since 1979, yet their recent defeats have highlighted a clear lack of depth in their squad, something which manager Puel is likely going to have to address this month.

Southampton are no strangers to doing business in the winter window, but it hasn’t always paid off for them, as here are their THREE worst January signings since the window was introduced in 2003…

Vegard Forren

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIcl8qn7RfQ

Norwegian international defender Vegard Forren moved to Southampton in January 2013 after twice winning the Norwegian top-flight with Molde.

The Saints spent £4 million on the centre-back, yet he never appeared for the first team in his six-month spell on the South Coast – he played for the Under-21 side, but that was as good as it got.

And, within six months of leaving Molde, the 28-year-old returned to the club in the summer of 2013, where he is still playing his trade at present.

Iago Falque

Spanish youngster Iago Falque moved to Tottenham in 2011, yet only appeared for the club once in the Premier League before moving to Southampton in January 2012.

His six-month loan at St Mary’s started reasonably well, as he made his debut within a week of signing against Leicester, but he then didn’t play for the Saints again.

Falque returned to Spurs to fight for his place, yet eventually left White Hart Lane permanently in 2014 after not adding to his one appearance for the club.

The 27-year-old winger moved to Genoa and then signed for Roma, before sealing a loan move to Torino for this current campaign, a loan deal which was made permanent at the start of this month.

Olivier Bernard

Olivier Bernand had made over 100 league appearances for Newcastle United prior to leaving for Southampton in January 2005.

And, based on his decent spell at St James’ Park, it looked like a good scalp for the Saints in their bid to avoid relegation from the Premier League.

But it was anything but, as Bernard made just nine league appearances for the club as they were indeed relegated to the second tier with just 32 points from their 38 Premier League matches.

Bernard had only signed a short-term deal at St Mary’s, but it was not renewed at the end of the season, and he had to find a new club in the summer of 2005.