According to a table just published Saints were way down the list of the big payers in the Premier League in 2015/16 although that may change slightly this coming season.
Saints are shown as being 14th out of the 20 Premier League clubs when t comes to wage bills in a table published by the Express today.
The table however does show that paying big money does not guarantee success wit Leicester City being 4th from bottom in the table and Chelsea top.
Above Saints are many clubs who did far worse than us last season, including relegated Aston Villa and Newcastle and teams like Sunderland and West Brom who battled relegation.
According to the report Saints wage bill was a mere £55 million last year with the biggest weekly wage being the £55k we forked out to sign Charlie Austin.
Most teams till you got to the top six of in order, Chelsea £215 m , Man Utd 203m, Man City £194m, Arsenal £192m, Liverpool £152m & Spurs £110.5m are paying between the £55million of Saints up to the £75 million Newcastle splashed out to get relegated.
Lowest was Bournemouth who are listed as £25 million with Juan Burbe as the highest earner on £55k a week and Artur Boruc second on £32k.
The table shows a couple of things, the first is that you do need to spend to get up in that top six and that is the task that Saints face in the coming years, Spurs wage bill will increase as will their stadiu capacity in a few years time and that will mean they can pay more wages.
The top six are paying more and that does keep them up there.
But it also shows that although big money can guarantee you a Premier League place, it still needs someone spending it wisely, Leicester are of course evidence of that, as are the two clubs who finished above us and got relegated.
Money is a big influence but all it is buying you is a better chance of success not a guarantee.
You would expect Saints to move up the table a little in the coming season given that we have signed so many players to new long term deals and perhaps a couple of more to follow.
However so far we have lost Gaston Ramirez whose wages where fairly substantial as well as Pelle, Mane and Wanyama, all of the latter three would probably have been on more money than the two signings so far Hojbjerg and Redmond.
This table should show Saints supporters that our strategy is correct, we cannot take on the top six in terms of wages, to try to do so as leeds United found out would take us close to bankruptcy and there is the matter that as we found with Ramirez, you may pay big money for a player but that doesn't mean he is worth it.
So I am happy with this table, yes of course I would have preferred to see Saints higher up, but it satisfies me that in today's game although money is king, what really matters is what you do wit it not how much you have.
We have a good foundation, a good strategy and can move forward confidently, there are targets for the season that we should aim for and there are those that might prove beyond us, however as Leicester City showed anything is possible.