Mauricio Pochettino has welcomed the statement from the newly-formed Saints board that completing the development at the training ground is their number-one priority.

Work on the reported £30m revamp at Staplewood is still to be completed, with chairman Ralph Krueger saying this week that finishing the project is now the key focus.

Pochettino said: “It is really important that the new training ground is finalised.

“It is very important for this football club – a club that develops young talent, develops football players and, right now, the infrastructure is not as comfortable as we would want.

“It is not comfortable for the first-team, or any of the teams in the academies.

“It is a main priority for this football club to get the new training ground finalised and to make life a lot more comfortable for all the teams at this football club.

“And also to make the training ground as good as this football club deserves.”