Southampton: Is this a big hint as to who will be Saints’ new Director of Football?

Southampton are said to be close to naming their new Director of Football after the departure of Ross Wilson last month.

A recent report from the Telegraph reported that an appointment would be made before the international break, but another report has perhaps given a hint as to who the candidate may be.

The Sun (Sunday 10th November, pg 59) reports that former Leicester, Everton and Chelsea scout/Director of Football Steve Walsh is doing some scouting for Saints at the moment.

With signings being lined up by the club given their current position in the Premier League, Walsh is casting his expert eye over some of the targets that they have outlined.

Martyn Glover – who was with Walsh at Everton – became Saints’ Chief Scout in April after just under three years at Goodison Park and the links surely cannot be ignored.

Walsh earned his reputation as one of the best talent finders in the country after his spell with Leicester City.

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He oversaw the signings of the likes of Jamie Vardy, Riyad Mahrez and N’Golo Kante for amazingly small fees, and those players were of course key to the Foxes’ league title win back in the 2015/16 season.

Eventually, Walsh moved to Everton to try and revitalise a squad of players who were under-performing when he arrived.

Under his guidance the Toffees spent around £150m on players, but the signings didn’t pay off as well as they had done with Leicester and Walsh was relieved of his duties in May 2018.

There have been no suggestions that Saints will appoint Walsh to the Director of Football role in the press but his involvement with the club at this stage cannot be denied.

There would be a number of things that the club would have to consider before appointing him – not least the change in fortunes between him being Chief Scout at Leicester and then Director of Football with Everton.

However, the Leicester situation would be more similar to the one that Walsh would be working in at Saints – a club looking for cheaper signings who could become great players in the Premier League, as opposed to the huge amounts that he had to spend at Everton.