MARK Hughes has been impressed with Saints’ approach to the transfer window and has been especially encouraged by the work that has gone into identifying targets.

Saints have wasted little time this summer, spending £51m on bringing in Stuart Armstrong, Mohamed Elyounoussi, Angus Gunn and Jannik Vestergaard to bolster a squad which struggled last season.

“I’ve been involved in the process. I came in [at the beginning of June] just to go through the potential targets that were there that the club had lined up and felt were viable,” Hughes explained.

“We went through and categorised who we felt would be number one, number two, number three. Not necessarily because they were lesser players, they were all A-list players, but just which ones would be a preference if we were able to get them.

“It was a good process, it was encouraging for me because I understood that a lot of work’s gone on before they actually present to me as they manager.

“The worry I’ve had in the past about understanding the character of the players and whether they’ll come into the Premier League and have an impact.

“A lot of that work is already done before they even get presented to me.

“All transfers are risks, you’re never quite sure how a player will react to a certain environment, a different way of coaching, a different country.

“It’s difficult but if they’ve got the fundamentals as people and players, then they shouldn’t have a problem.”

Hughes alludes to a time at his former clubs where the recruitment process hasn’t been as thorough, meaning he’s had to be more hands on in finding new signings.

However, at Saints, Hughes has been presented with transfer options to pick from, allowing him to focus on his main job of managing the team while the club chase the Welshman's preferred targets.

He said: “Sometimes you can spread yourself thin getting involved in different aspects.

“What I found when I came here was that everything, almost without fail, is already here, in terms of structure and support to the first-team.

“It’s very easy for me to focus on the job in hand, which was eight games and getting the maximum out of the team.

“Hopefully, that’ll be the case this year. We’ll have a real focus on maximising our chances of winning.

“Everything that surrounds me as the manager and the operation as a first-team that’s in place and we’ve got quality people.

“Hopefully I don’t have to get my hands dirty in that regard because it’s all in place which is really impressive.”

Saints are now at Staplewood, where they are continuing their 2018/19 preparations ahead of a trip to Championship outfit Derby on Saturday to play a pre-season friendly.