The 21-year-old was signed by Brendan Rodgers from Sporting last September but spent the second half of last season on loan at Granada

Liverpool defender Tiago Ilori has joined Bordeaux on a season-long loan.

The 21-year-old signed for Brendan Rodgers’ side from Sporting last September but was sent out on loan to Granada in January and made nine appearances for the Spanish club.

Ilori, a Portugal Under-21 international, had been linked with a loan move to Borussia Dortmund before his switch to Bordeaux.

The French club currently sit second in Ligue 1 following Sunday’s 4-1 win over Monaco.

The striker believes that Mauricio Pochettino’s departure to Tottenham in May signalled a lack of ambition which led to players wanting to leave St Mary’s Stadium this summer

Rickie Lambert admits that he is surprised that Southampton’s owners have not faced more criticism over their decision to sell several first-team players this summer.

The England international, along with Adam Lallana and Dejan Lovren, joined Liverpool from the Saints this summer, while Luke Shaw left in a €37 million deal to Manchester United and Calum Chambers moved to Arsenal.

Both Lambert and Lovren made their debuts for Liverpool in Sunday’s 2-1 win over Southampton at Anfield and, while the striker received a warm reception from both sets of supporters, the Croatian centre-back was booed by the travelling fans for forcing through his transfer.

Lambert believes that Mauricio Pochettino’s departure to Tottenham in May was the catalyst for players deciding to leave Southampton this summer and has questioned the club’s ambition under their current ownership.

“[Lovren’ll] be okay,” Lambert told Fox Sports Australia.

“Obviously, a few of the players have took a bit of stick. They’ll take it, that’s football. It’s been surprising that it’s all been the players and none on the owners, which I have found a bit surprising.

“There’s obviously a reason why the gaffer [Pochettino] went and I think that was the moment that it became clear to the players what the ambition of the club was going to be.”

Lambert is grateful for the support that he received from Southampton fans after coming on as a second-half substitute for Liverpool and maintains that he holds a lot of respect for his former club.

“It was good. I love Southampton fans, I’ve got a good relationship with them, so it was nice that they acknowledged me in the way they did,” the England man enthused.

“I tried to acknowledge them back in the same manner, the same kind of respect. I’ve got nothing but respect for Southampton, the players and the fans.”

Barcelona have splashed more cash than anyone in Europe thus far, with Liverpool second, Real Madrid third and Chelsea in fifth

Barcelona have spent more on transfers this summer than any other club in Europe thanks to the arrivals of Luis Suarez & Co.

The Blaugrana have had a busy close season, signing Claudio Bravo and Marc-Andre ter Stegen in goal, Jeremy Mathieu and Thomas Vermalen in defence, Ivan Raiktic in midfield and the Uruguayan up front.

Their total summer spending is €153 million, comfortably more than their nearest rivals Liverpool.

The Reds got a big €88m payoff from the sale of Suarez and their return to the Champions League, and have been ambitious throughout the summer.

Adam Lallana, Dejan Lovren and Rickie Lambert all joined from Southampton, Lazar Markovic was a big-money acquisition from Benfica and Emre Can arrived from Bayer Leverkusen.

Their spree totalled €131m, almost €40m more than their nearest rivals in the Premier League.

Real Madrid are third in the list after spending €120m. The Spanish giants have had something of a quiet summer by their standards, signing just three players, Keylor Navas, Toni Kroos and James Rodriguez, the latter for a whopping €80m.

Hot on their heels are city rivals Atletico Madrid. The Liga champions lost key members of their squad this summer but have been ambitious in the market, signing Mario Mandzukic, Antoine Griezmann and more for a combined €101.5m.

One of the teams to have raided the Vicente Calderon for new talent was Chelsea, who signed Diego Costa and Filipe Luis from the Spanish capital, along with Cesc Fabregas from Chelsea to take their summer spending to €93.5m.

Staying in London, Arsenal are sixth after buying the likes of Alexis Sanchez, Calum Chambers, Mathieu Debuchy and David Ospina for just over €77m.

Manchester United suffered disappointment last year but signalled their ambition to return to the Premier League top four by signing Ander Herrera and Luke Shaw for a combined €73.5m.

Manchester City have had their spending curtailed by Financial Fair Play but have still splashed out €65.5m on new players, the majority of it going on Eliaquim Mangala from Porto.

Southampton have seen many players leave this summer, but have been active themselves by signing Dusan Tadic, Shane Long and Graziano Pelle and more for a total of €58m.

The final name in the top 10 is another club who have been quiet in the close season due to FFP. Paris Saint-Germain could still afford a star arrival, though, with David Luiz joining in their only permanent deal, worth almost €50m.

Interestingly, all but one of the top 10 are Spanish sides, with Germany’s Borussia Dortmund the eleventh highest spenders and Italy’s Roma in twelfth.

*Numbers via Transfermarkt.