It's been doing the rounds of the rumour mill for the past few weeks but Saints have now confirmed the replacement head of senior recruitment for Leicester City bound Martyn Glover.

Southampton FC have confirmed the appointment of former Manchester City head of academy recruitment Joe Shields, who now steps up a notch or two in the footballing pecking order as the St Mary's head of senior recruitment.

A statement from the club said:

“Southampton Football Club is delighted to announce the appointment of Joe Shields as its new head of senior recruitment.

“The 35-year-old joins after spending the last nine years with Manchester City, most recently as head of academy recruitment and talent management.

“Shields previously held recruitment and scouting roles for Crystal Palace and Fulham, and arrives with an excellent reputation for identifying young talent.

“Martyn Glover, previously in the position of Head of Scouting and Recruitment at St Mary’s, has departed to join Leicester City.

“The club would like to thank Martyn for his dedication and service to the club, and wish him well in his future career.”

Another forward move from the club in looking to bring in people with experience in their field.

Photo: Action Images

wrathoftazz added 20:00 - Jul 8 OK so I'm confused... so far this window (following a DIASTER last season) we have taken this guy on, in a role not used to and bought in new players with very little, if not no PL experience. I'm not optimistic... im petrified for next season. Ralph with a group of experienced PL players was bad enough... this is going to be a slaughter.
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Colburn added 21:04 - Jul 8 I'm not too concerned about the lack of experience in the players we have brought in so far. What is frustrating is how long it is taking to bring our targets in, in time for a full pre season. Anyone joining up after this week is going to be behind. Why haven't we signed one of the two strikers we need yet? I can understand things being staggered and I know it's not an easy game but we could have done with a striker and attacking mid by now, getting stuck into training sessions ready to hit the ground running in 4 weeks.

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highfield49 added 08:46 - Jul 9 Agreed Colburn but I think the majority of clubs are in the same situation. I'm guessing that players were lined up as potential signings but clubs or players were not interested in what was on offer. Equally, it concerns me that we haven't been able to shift any of the players surplus to requirements, other than those out of contract. On the positive side there haven't been too many rumours concerning interest in our better players but that doesn't mean that KWP, JWP, and a few others aren't being tapped up. I certainly don't envy Joe Shields in having to resolve so many difficult negotiations in a very limited timeframe. Hopefully every player signed this summer actually makes the grade and doesn't end up on the list of expensive nightmares we've recently witnessed. Fingers crossed.

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PeterL22 added 11:33 - Jul 9 Bit of a culture shock, seeing his new budget after his stay at Man City! I remember my first trip to Lidl after being a Waitrose regular 😇
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