SO much for taking the time to meet new Saints boss Ronald Koeman then!

No sooner had their feet touched the ground back in England, then Luke Shaw and Adam Lallana were busy engineering their moves away from St Mary’s.

Saints had always said they wanted Mauricio Pochettino’s replacement to meet with the wantaway pair before deciding their futures.

Well, that doesn’t appear to have happened.

Shaw and Lallana only got back to England on Wednesday and Koeman is currently out of the country on holiday prior to starting work at St Mary’s next week.

We have to believe the players didn’t want meet Koeman, or they reckoned there was no point.

Their minds were made up.

If that is indeed the case, then Saints have done the right thing in moving the players on as soon as they can.

Get the money in ready for when Koeman arrives for work.

There is no point keeping players if they want to go.

The best Saints can do is to get a good fee for Shaw and Lallana.

Nobody could really argue a fee of around £30m for a left back is not a good deal.

It’s a great deal.

Saints will only bank around £19m from Lallana’s departure as AFC Bournemouth will benefit from a 25 per cent sell on clause.

The sort of clause Saints wished they had inserted in the contract when they sold Gareth Bale to Tottenham for around £5m, then watched him join Real Madrid for £85m last summer.

Too often in football transfers drag on, the Bale one to Madrid a classic example.

At least Saints have quickly moved on two players who wanted to leave prior to the squad returning for pre season training.

It might seem Saints have sold them with undue haste, but now Koeman can take over with extra funds to spend.

Lallana and Shaw are now the past at St Mary’s.

Ronald Koeman is the future, and he is the man all Saints fans need to get behind.

Not just the supporters either.

The club’s board must ensure they financially back their new manager.

Ronald Koeman is a huge name in world football, and his presence will surely help attract quality replacements.

We thank Lallana especially for his service to Saints – Shaw has only been a regular since November 2012 – but now look to a potentially fascinating new era.