SAINTS ended a record-breaking summer of Premier League spending by making the largest transfer window profit of any top flight club.

While some rivals had a seemingly free-spending attitude to the transfer market, Saints did their business more frugally - ending up with a £20.2m profit.

They were one of only four clubs to bring in more money than they spent, and that has led to their transfer policy being met with a mixed reception from supporters.

The policy at St Mary’s is to drive the hardest bargain possible, getting the most out of a deal for one of their outgoing stars but then negotiating the best price for a player they want to bring in.

That strategy has been on full display this window, with Sofiane Boufal arriving for £16m rather than the £20m price tag that was originally slapped on him by Lille, while Saints managed to milk Liverpool of upwards of £34m for Sadio Mane.

Saints have raked in £20.2m in profit from this transfer window, which should create a healthy war chest for future windows.

In an ever-changing market those figures make for an interesting comparison with the rest of the elite.

The statistics are incredibly telling with only four Premier League clubs making money this summer – only Liverpool (£14.5m), Swansea (£9.63m) and Everton (£1.05m) have joined Saints in the black across the summer months.

The same can’t be said for Bournemouth who are £20.8m in the red after Eddie Howe’s squad reconstruction this summer, which saw them smash their transfer record along the way with the £15m arrival of Jordan Ibe.

Manchester United and Manchester City topped the net spend Premier League table, with United in second place on £141.05m and City at the summit on £169.05m.

Many Saints fans would have preferred to see the club spending more, despite Boufal becoming the most expensive player club has ever signed and a combined £24m splashed out on Nathan Redmond (£10m), Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (£12m) and Alex McCarthy (£2m).