Mark Hughes has admitted that he will now have to sell players in order to bring any further new signings into his Southampton squad during this transfer window.

The Saints chief has enjoyed a productive window to date as he has added Jannik Vestergaard, Mohamed Elyounoussi, Stuart Armstrong and Anguss Gunn to his ranks, while only midfielder Dusan Tadic has left after he moved to Ajax.

Despite getting his work done early to secure his main targets, Hughes has revealed that he would look to bring in more new signings if the right players become available.

But the Welshman has acknowledged that any new faces will now have to be funded from player sales and not the club’s coffers.

Hughes, who was handed a new three-year deal by the Saints in May after successfully guiding the club to Premier League safety when he replaced the sacked Mauricio Pellegrino in March, told the Daily Echo: “We will probably have to sell or allow players to go out of the club if we’re likely to bring anybody in now I would think.

“We’ve done OK. We have done early business which we are pleased about but you are always on the lookout.

“We’ve still got a couple of weeks before the start of the season and things present themselves as we know. We have to be ready if we are able to get in the right type of player who can help us.”

Saints, who are 8/1 to be relegated in 2018-19, are Evs to start the campaign with a win against Burnley at St Mary’s on August 12, while the Clarets are 14/5 and the draw is 12/5.