“I am excited and passionate about what the future holds for us and look forward to meeting the players and beginning our preparation for the new season.”

Southampton vide-chairman Les Reed added: "I am delighted that after a diligent selection process we have recruited Mauricio Pellegrino as our new first team manager. Mauricio impressed us throughout with his depth of knowledge, motivation and ability, communicating this in a professional and passionate way. He has an excellent understanding of the Southampton Way, and his style of play and aspiration matches the philosophy, culture and ambition of the club.

"We firmly believe Mauricio is the right person to help us take the next steps. He knows our players and believes we have a great squad that with some fine-tuning will be able to deliver continued success. Mauricio believes with the quality we have we can play exciting, attacking football, taking the game to our opponents by playing a high-intensity game. He will continue to develop and introduce young players whilst building on the core of experience that we have in the squad.