Southampton chairman Ralph Krueger has told talkSPORT that “every penny” of the funds from the club’s mass exodus will be available to new manager Ronald Koeman to rebuild his team before the transfer window shuts.

The Saints have pocketed close to £100million from player exits this summer, with a total of five first-team stars leaving St Mary’s.

The largest sum came from Manchester United, who paid a reported £31.5million for England starlet Luke Shaw, while captain Adam Lallana [£26million], defender Dejan Lovren [£20million] and striker Rickie Lambert [£4million] moved to Liverpool and Calum Chambers went to Arsenal for around £16million.

The St Mary’s faithful have understandably raised questions over the club’s future aspirations having overseen the departures of their greatest talents.

But Krueger, who replaced popular former chairman Nicola Cortese in the hotseat back in March, insists the decisions were made in the long-term interest of the team, adding that he expects to announce new signings within the coming days.

“Ronald Koeman wants to build something here at Southampton,” the chairman told Drivetime.

“Our summer activity is definitely not a fire sale, every penny of that will be up for reinvestment as transfer fees and wages.

“It is there right now as we speak for Ronald and [club executive director] Les Reed to put into play in the transfer market.

“We need to have a dressing room filled with players who want to be at Southampton, who understand the way we’re moving forward, how we’re building towards European football and how we can get there in a healthy way.

“We went into this transfer window without any players for sale, but situations have evolved since then and some wanted shortcuts to the Champions League.

“We had a strategy in place before the transfer window opened that if we could make a deal on our terms and we could get the premium price for a player, we would make the deal. That is what has happened with all the transfers to date this summer.

“Right now we felt selling the players at the prices were offered gives the club an opportunity to continue building a team that will be competitive for many years to come, and not just in the short-term.

“The passion our fans have for the club is tremendous, we have so much respect for them and I apologise to those who have been left frustrated with the little bit of silence from us of late, but it was necessary for us to drive the best deals home.

“And while we will try to be as transparent as possible as we move forward, I can’t fix the dates [of any future transfers] that would be wrong.

“But I am extremely optimistic we will have some targets at the club within the next few days.”