Ronald Koeman is waking up to a headache he has been dreaming about since joining Saints – a genuine selection dilemma.

The Saints boss cut a happy figure as the transfer window slammed shut this week with Toby Alderweireld and Sadio Mane completing deadline day moves.

It meant Koeman landed players in every position he wanted during the summer, and can start the task of moulding a settled squad as he wants it.

However, his life isn’t getting too much easier.

Having built a base for competition in every single position, arguably with much greater depth than last year’s squad contained, he now has to work out his first choice team.

That will inevitably lead to making some players happy and others frustrated.

Nowhere are his problems more acute than at centre half, where Florin Gardos and Alderweireld, established international footballers, have been brought in, both expecting and hoping for first team football.

It is an area of the squad that also contains the influential Jose Fonte, who has only just been appointed as the club’s on field captain, and Japan international Maya Yoshida.

Upon joining the club, Alderweireld dropped a strong hint that he felt he was going to be a first team regular during his season long loan, which has an €8m (£6.3m) option to make the deal permanent.

He said: “I had a good talk with the coach. First of all, it was very important for me to play this season and the coach gave me a good solution for that.”

If that is indeed the case, then it begs the question as to who is going to make way for Alderweireld to play.

He is primarily a right-sided player.

It is hard to imagine him dislodging Nathaniel Clyne at right back after his good start to the season.

As a right sided centre half the most natural spot for him to take would be the one occupied by Fonte.

But with Fonte being the team’s new captain, signing a new deal and a big presence for the team on the pitch and in the dressing room, it seems unlikely he will be dropped.

It may well be therefore that Koeman decides to play two right sided centre halves, which is not ideal but far from unheard of either, leaving the naturally left sided players of Gardos and Yoshida on the bench.

These though are the decisions Koeman has been craving since taking charge of the club and now the focus is on the football rather than the transfer window.