The quickfire double signing yesterday means that in terms of numbers the Saints squad is back up to speed, but it still needs a bit more quality into the squad before the season starts.
Most Saints supporters have woken up to what Saints are trying to do as a club and have realised that we need to compete on our own terms and on the levels that we can, rather than just try to throw money around like confetti.
That is of course the situation at the so called big six in the Premier league and a look at their income revenues shows why Saints have had to find an alternate way of doing things and succeed.
So far we have worked this system well and continued to improve, however that does not mean we should rest on our laurels, so far this summer we have seen four players leave for fee's between the £3 million or so we got for Juanmi and the £35 million for Sadio Mane, in the process raking in around £62 million, £67 million if you throw in the compensation we received from Everton for Ronald Koeman.
So far we have brought in four new signings, two of which can only be considered squad players, with our total spend being around £25 million, some £42 million less than we have brought in.
There are three realities in this situation , the first is that so far we haven't brought in as much quality as we have let go, the second is that even last season we were short in some areas and still are and the third is we still have the money in the pot to rectify the first two.
So that being the case Saints do need to spend a little bit more of the money received, even the Saints supporters who buy into our strategy can see that.
The past two seasons have seen us use the money well to improve the squad as a whole and that has reaped rewards, a couple of years ago we had a team that finished 8th, a lot of those players left, yet we are 6th, the reason for that is that it is a squad game, under Pochettino we did not have a big enough squad, now we have.
Those who say f we kept all our players we would have finished in the top four are wrong, back then it was a team not a squad and that was the reason it finished where it did.
But if the strategy is to work then we have to keep implementing it and that means spending the money we receive in from transfer sales.
As a squad we are still short in key areas, we need a new central defender, last season we got lucky, we had no long injuries or suspensions for Fonte or Van Dijk, which was lucky as we had no one of any class to replace them.
Jose Fonte will not go on forever, he will be 33 soon, we need someone in who can not only deputise for either central defender, but push them for a place, successful teams usually have competition for places.
Secondly we need another striker, on paper we have a decent strike force, but the reality is that Jay Rodrguez and Charlie Austin do not have great injury records over the past couple of seasons, we cannot rely on Shane Long alone, we need a contrasting style of striker in the squad.
I would also point out the need for a big strong midfielder, im not so concerned at this as i think we have decent players in this position and that Claude Puel seems likely to adopt a different holding formation, but it would be nice to have someone in who can use a bit of muscle sometimes.
So in my opinion we are not that far off having a squad that is better than last years, of those that left only Pelle had any real consistency for the team, Mane struggled for most of the season and Wanyama as magnificent as he was on his day, was too often either suspended or getting sent off due to his attitude.
Yes they helped us get to sixth in the final run in, but the truth is if they had played like that in the first 3/4 of the season consistently we might well have finished in the top three.
The key is to use the surplus transfer money wisely, 2 key signings being a central defender and forward is essential, do that and there is no reason why we cannot emultate the past few seasons.