Sousa has most recently coached in China, where he came to the attention of the Southampton owner

Southampton have held talks with Paulo Sousa, the former QPR and Leicester manager, about replacing under-fire manager Mark Hughes. The Portuguese coach is understood to have attended Southampton’s 3-2 defeat at Fulham last weekend and has emerged as their preferred successor should they choose to sack Hughes, who is under pressure at the St Mary’s Stadium after a dismal run has put his side in the relegation zone.

Sousa has worked at eight clubs in six different countries during an itinerant managerial career and was most recently at Tianjin Quanjian in the Chinese Super League, where he came to the attention of Southampton owner Gao Jisheng. The Chinese businessman has taken charge of Southampton’s latest managerial hunt having been unimpressed by the appointments previously made