SOUTHAMPTON may be famed for playing in their red and white stripes, yet it is quickly becoming a club close to the hearts of those with a fancy for the green and white hoops.

In recent years St Mary’s has become a haven for players tempted away from Paradise, lured south by the big bucks and the bright lights of the Barclays Premier League.

Goalkeeper Fraser Forster migrated to the English south east coast and is now the Saints’ No.1 on a weekly basis, while Victory Wanyama made such a good impression under Ronald Koeman that he was poached in the summer by Spurs for £11m, with Celtic benefiting from a sell-on fee written into the Kenyan’s contract.

Read more: Virgil van Dijk to land Celtic second lump sum if he departs Southampton

Without a doubt, though, that fee will surely be dwarfed by the huge sum of money that will be coming when the third former Hoops player to pull on a red and white jersey finally calls time on his Southampton spell.

Celtic have already raked in over £11m for defender Virgil van Dijk on the back of his transfer down south in the summer of 2015, but former Saints hero Matt Le Tisser fears another bumper pay out could be round the corner.

The former Southampton goal machine reckons the 25-year-old centre-half is currently the best in the Premier League as Liverpool and Everton battle it out to land him during the January transfer window.

But with a 10 per cent sell-on clause believed to be written into the £40m-rated Dutchman’s deal, Le Tissier reckons the Hoops could be set for a late Christmas present if he is swayed on a move to Merseyside.

Read more: Virgil van Dijk to land Celtic second lump sum if he departs Southampton

“What happens is that Liverpool pay us loads of money for players and then we take a bit of that money and give it to Celtic,” he joked. “It’s a nice little circle!

“So far, the arrangement has worked well. I think Liverpool have given us over £100 million over the last three seasons and they still couldn’t finish above us last season.

“Let me tell you, if Van Dijk stayed for a couple of years I’d be absolutely delighted. But I doubt we’ll keep him for that long. I’m hoping we can at least keep him until the end of the season because then it doesn’t disrupt things too much. Hopefully, we don’t lose him in January.

“From what I have seen this season, I would probably suggest it would take between £40 million and £50 million to get him away from Southampton.

“I would be very surprised if he was let go for anything less than that because he has signed a new long-term deal.

“Celtic will have a sell-on clause and rightly so. That’s good business by them.”

Le Tissier has no qualms about his old side paying out on sell-on clauses given the extraordinary value they have got from the Celtic trio that have passed through the St Mary’s front door.

While others may have been surprised that the English top-flight outfit have forked out millions for players from a so-called lesser league north of the border, the 48-year-old credits Celtic thorough reputation as the reason for faith shown in their signings.

“We have signed three top-notch players from Celtic who have managed to do very good jobs for us. Obviously, big Vic has moved on but he did a cracking job during his time at the club,” he said.

“Fraser is still terrific and, well, for me Virgil van Dijk is probably the best centre-back in the Premier League at the moment.

“He is as good as that. I have seen a lot of Southampton this season. At times, he looks like a man playing in a boy’s game. He really does. He had Lukaku in his pocket for the entire game on Sunday. I just think he is superb.

“I wasn’t surprised by Southampton going to Celtic and Scottish football for players because I know the scouting system at the club is superb. They do real in-depth research into players they buy.

“Yes, you are obviously taking something of a chance because you don’t know how they are going to react when they come to the Premier League. So far, though, they have picked out three absolute gems.”

Given the recent history of Southampton swooping in for Celtic’s top performers, it would be understandable if Hoops fans were fearing the sight of Moussa Dembele appearing in front of the cameras in the new year holding a red and white scarf above his head.

The 20-year-old Frenchman is quickly looking like the bargain of the century. Brendan Rodgers brought him in from Fulham for just £400,000 and he’s already repaid his manager’s faith by netting 17 times, including five times in Europe.

“I have seen a bit of Dembele,” added Le Tissier. “When guys are doing the business at Celtic then it does tempt the Premier League clubs to take a look at them. If he was to be the next one then so be it.

Read more: Virgil van Dijk to land Celtic second lump sum if he departs Southampton

“He has done terrifically well at Celtic, not just in the domestic but also in the Champions League.

“He has a lot of potential and improvement still to come so I wouldn’t surprise me if one of the Premier League clubs came in for a look at him.

“I was a little bit surprised that he wasn’t kept in English football when he left Fulham because he’d showed plenty of potential there.

“But a club the size of Celtic is tempting for a young lad, especially with the carrot of Champions League football.”

Sky Sports will show the biggest head to heads over the festive season, including Manchester City v Chelsea this Saturday and the Old Firm derby on New Year’s Eve.