became the most expensive player in British football when
Blackburn Rovers paid Southampton £3.6 million for the striker in July 1992. from
Chelsea in August. joined from
Arsenal for £750,000 a few days after Monkou's arrival. Ahead of the 1992–93 season, Southampton received numerous offers for striker
Alan Shearer, who had finished the last year as the club's top scorer and recently made his debut (and scored) for the
England national team. Despite interest from
Manchester United, he opted to move to
Blackburn Rovers (who had been recently promoted to the
FA Premier League) in July for a fee of £3.6 million, surpassing
Liverpool's purchase of
Dean Saunders a year earlier for £2.9 million. Saints manager
Ian Branfoot wanted to sign
Mike Newell in part-exchange for Shearer, but instead saw the arrival of
David Speedie for an additional £400,000; Speedie himself was described as "reluctant" to move, claiming in later years that he felt "forced" into the transfer. Also leaving in the summer were centre-back
Neil Ruddock, who was signed by
Tottenham Hotspur for a tribunal-determined fee of £750,000; midfielder
Barry Horne, who moved to
Everton for £675,000; and
Jon Gittens, who made his loan move to
Middlesbrough permanent in a £350,000 deal. Branfoot's first signing of the 1992–93 transfer window was striker
Kerry Dixon, who joined from
Chelsea for a fee of £575,000, reuniting with former teammate Speedie when he joined the following week. In August, the manager signed another Chelsea player, Dutch international centre-back
Ken Monkou, for whom they paid £750,000. The final addition of the summer came in the form of
Arsenal winger
Perry Groves, who joined a few days after Monkou for the same fee, despite "nursing an Achilles problem" which would ultimately end his professional playing career within a year. Despite only joining in the summer, Speedie was put up for transfer by Southampton during the early stages of the season, after reportedly falling out with Branfoot, as well as teammates including
Glenn Cockerill and
Terry Hurlock. He subsequently spent short periods out on loan at
Birmingham City and
West Bromwich Albion, before finishing the season with
West Ham United and helping the Hammers win promotion to the top flight. Dixon was also loaned out towards the end of the season, joining
Luton Town in February 1993 and making the deal permanent early the next season. midfielder
David Lee joining
Bolton Wanderers for a month in November, before joining permanently in December, and striker
Paul Moody moving to
Reading over the Christmas period.
Alloa Athletic midfielder
Paul Sheerin,
Halesowen Town striker
Frankie Bennett and
Ayr United defender
Derek Allan all joined Southampton during the course of the 1992–93 season for small fees.
Players transferred in Players transferred out Players loaned out ==Pre-season friendlies==