With new owners Sport Republic now in place Ralph Hasenhuttl will now be talking to them and assessing where his squad needs strengthening, also on the agenda is who will need to be moved on.
Saints have a number of players out of contract in July, these include all four goalkeepers on the books, Fraser Forster, Willy Caballero, Alex McCarthy & Harry Lewis, striker Shane Long, defender Jack Stephens and of course loan signing Armando Broja.
The rumour mill tells us that Alex McCarthy has been offered a new deal, but these rumours have been going on since October when he was first choice keeper, Ralph said back in the summer that he would be looking to keep one of either him or Fraser Forster, the balance of power has changed in that position now and so could the Austrian's views on the position.
If McCarthy did sign a new deal then why was it not announced back then, I think that the goalkeeper position is still far from decided, I think a new man will come in and as it stands who will be his deputy will depend on money, Fraser Forster will command more money and is undergoing a revival, whereas Alex McCarthy will be the cheap option, he would not be able to get the salary of Forster either by leaving St Mary's or staying.
The decision here may be mainly financial, although if Saints cannot land an experienced keeper at the right price, I would not be surprised to see Forster start next season as the number 1 whilst they re assess their plans.
Jack Stephens is another quandary, whatever I say here, I am sure someone will accuse me of being biased, but I am going to try and be impartial, in truth my view on Stephens has remained the same for the last 5 years, he is a good squad player who can come in and do a job when needed, but he is not a man who is able to give you 38 games a season at the standard required in this league.
I feel as a back up player he is an asset to the club, we are not Manchester City we cannot afford to pay £40 million for Nathan Ake to be our back up centre half, we have to cut our cloth and in that respect Stephens is a good fit.
So the question for Ralph is whether he is the man to play that role next season, as it stands he is probably 4th choice in the centre of defence behind Mohammed Salisu, Jan Bednarek & Lyanco, Ralph also has the up and coming Dynel Simeu currently out on loan to gain experience and he has also used Yan Valery in the position.
He has six centre halves, that is too many, he might well consider that he now has the chance to get one of them off the books and take it, turning 29 during next season, Jack is not one for the future and Sport Republic's take may be that he doesn't fit their profile.
My question here would be, "Would we be looking to sign him if he played for another club" ?
I think the answer would be no, so I would not be surprised if we let him go and freed up the wages for elsewhere, Sport Republic will apply their philosophy not just to players we are looking to sign, but those on the books at present.
You could apply this to Alex McCarthy as well, if they have as rumoured signed new deals already they might just have got lucky, if they haven't then aside from why haven't they, I think their futures at the club are very uncertain.
But Hasenhuttl will also be looking to move on other squad members who for one reason or another might not figure in his plans.
These are in the main players whose contracts expire in 2023 and with a year left the club will need to make a decision either to offer them a new deal or sell them now.
Perhaps the highest profile of these is Nathan Redmond, he gets criticism in some quarters, but he has still been a vital player this season when fit, he is up there with the number of assists provided and although he has suffered injury in the second half of the season, it might be considered that given his transfer value is given as £16 million by transfermarkt, it represents better value to sign him to a new deal than sell him.
Likewise Mohammed Elyounoussi, at the start of this season he looked likely to leave the club again on loan with a view to a permanent departure at the end of the season, but he has played his way into Ralph Hasenhuttl's plans.
His value is given as £9 million and although he has been seen as a success this season, it should be noted that his contributions in the Premier League are not matching the standards that over the past few seasons have earned Nathan Redmond stick from some quarters if we say Elyounoussi is the man who has taken over Redmond's position this season and compare them like for like.
That being the case I would suggest that we would be looking to keep one and sell one this summer.
Theo Walcott & Yan Valery are also out of contract in 2023, but I would expect them to stay as back up players unless a decent offer comes in that makes it worth our while.
Moussa Djenepo is another who will have a year left on his deal in the summer, at times he has showed he has the talent, but truth is he has not done it enough times and this season has perhaps been his worse at the club although he has been hampered by injury, again I think we will look to take a good offer for him, but whether he leaves or now will depend on how much he is on at St Mary's and how much he can get elsewhere.
So as I have said there are a number of players who will leave the club in the summer, the decks are being cleared and wages freed up for new signings, room for sentiment is not going to be a criteria, it is going to about applying the Sport Republic philosophy and that means moving on players when it is the most optimum time to do so, whether a fee is involved or not.