Goldie from Southampton academy elaborates on their extensive recruitment efforts

Saints academy made some exciting signings over the close-season, including former Spurs pair Sam Amo-Ameyaw and Jayden Meghoma, as well as Irish duo Romeo Akachuwku and Joe O'Brien-Whitmarsh.

Goldie, who arrived from Swansea City over the summer, told the Saints website: "We want to make sure we are dominating the south first.

“We have built a new talent acquisition team around that to make sure we are targeting those high-potential players that we can bring in across the pathway.

“We have identified a few key areas that we feel we can perform better in. Yes, we have had a lot of success in recent years, Joe and Romeo were signed in the last in the last 18 months.

“They’ve made their debut this season. Sam Amo-Ameyaw was a recruit a few years ago and he’s made his debut but we want to be less reactive.

“There is a real buzz around the place and we are building momentum but we will always look to improve."

He added: “When we are doing gap analysis for the academy and the under-21s we will always look internally to see if we have players who can accelerate in a particular position.

“We look if we have players in a particular profile who can enhance what we are trying to do, which is provide players for the first team.

“If we don’t, we will look externally. We have had a lot of changes in our recruitment department."