"My understanding from Southampton" - Journalist shares interesting summer transfer claim

Southampton ‘need to ship a few players out’ before they can bring in their transfer targets during the summer window, according to journalist Tom Barclay.

It could be an exciting off-season for the Saints after a Serbian-born cable television tycoon completed a £100 million takeover of the club at the start of the year.

According to Sky Sports, Dragan Solak, founder of United Group, has acquired an 80 per cent stake in the south coast club, bringing an end to the majority ownership of Chinese businessman Gao Jisheng.

But despite the new investment, Southampton didn’t bring in any new acquisitions during the January transfer window.

Several senior players such as Danny Ings, Jannik Vestergaard and Ryan Bertrand departed St. Mary’s in the summer and were replaced by multiple young talents.

While Tino Livramento and Armando Broja arrived from Chelsea, Adam Armstrong joined in a £15 million deal from Championship outfit Blackburn Rovers.

The fresh additions have had mixed success, though, and with Broja expected to return to his parent club when his season-long loan expires, Hasenhuttl may be forced into the market once again.

Even though Solak has invested a significant sum of his fortune in the club, Southampton may still not be able to compete with some of the Premier League’s most affluent sides.

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And Barclay has revealed that Hasenhuttl will need to offload some first-team stars prior to bringing in further signings.

He told GiveMeSport: “My understanding from Southampton is that they need to ship a few players out before they can buy, but they are looking to bring in a few players this summer.”

According to