Bielderman has covered Puel’s managerial career to-date, while he also recalls the Frenchman’s time as a player with AS Monaco to give some unique insight on the new man in charge at St Mary’s.

Puel is backed to work with the club on promoting young players and “enjoy the challenge” of working in the Premier League.

So, Erik, what can we expect of Claude Puel as Southampton manager?

“Claude Puel is a realistic type of manager he likes to link football and has the human material to play offensive and positive football, but he’s also very realistic and is not a ‘romantic’ kind of manager. If the team has to play with more balance or more consistent defensive football, then he will do it. I don’t think he’s the kind of manager who has only one way of playing football, and, in one word, I would say ‘pragmatic’.

He’s flexible in terms of the technical issues and is flexible in terms of caring about the opponent, but he also has straight ideas in terms of the players he trusts and the ones he might not trust. He likes determined players and ones with will and hard-work. He was hard-worker as a player in the midfield and he likes players who really give 100 per cent on the pitch.”

He’s managed a lot in France, but how do you think he’ll find the Premier League?

“I think it’s a great challenge for him. The main challenge is where before you had Ronald Koeman, and [Mauricio] Pochettino before him, you know that the club is demanding quality managers and results will be required. He is also a manager of the medium-term philosophy and what will be maybe for him is the challenge to stick with what the club and what the fans and media will expect with results, but also to build and to help and promote the academy which is at Southampton something very important because the reputation of the club is developing great players.”

How has his move to England been perceived in France?

“There have been several managers now who have done it with Arsène Wenger the most famous example, of course, while Gerard Houllier, recently Rémi Garde, and further back Jean Tigana at Fulham. In terms of players there have been even more than managers and it seems normal that nowadays for someone like him when you want to have the feeling of the ultimate challenge, then the Premier League is everything. Our managers when they go abroad mainly go to England and not to Spain, Italy or Germany.”

Why do you think that is?

“When you look at it, maybe the Premier League is not the best league in the world because Real Madrid and Barcelona are the best teams in Europe in terms of winning the Champions League, but this is the most challenging league because the TV rights and the money goes in quite an equal way to most of the clubs so every game to win is a challenge and you can’t win every game by 4 or 5-0 like you can do in France with Paris Saint-Germain so the challenge is meaningful. You can be like Leicester and be a strong team or you can be a team like Newcastle with all the money but get relegated, so every game is a challenge. The character of Claude Puel is that he loves a challenge and I think determination will be something that he will enjoy to share.”

We’ve seen the benefit of a team ethic at the EURO 2016 this summer, do you think that is what Claude Puel will try to instil at Southampton?

“I do believe so. Leicester won the Premier League with Claudio Ranieri’s determination and tactical concentration, and Athletico Madrid also in Spain did the same and were very close to winning the Champions League. I think this season and the last couple of seasons the team with a kind of defensive organisation, balance, tactic and concentration are the ones that are doing well. It’s like in the past couple of years where Barcelona, Bayern Munich and some English clubs with a very offensive way of playing of football were wining trophies, but it seems now that it’s a bit of a revenge of the pragmatic and realist. It’s something that every manager has to think about so that you can cope with what Wales and Iceland have done this summer and like Leicester did a couple of months ago."

It seems a good fit between Southampton and Puel. Do you agree?

“It looks that way on paper. I really feel it so. In terms of the media attention, Claude Puel does the job and gives answers to the questions, but he’s not someone who will look for the front page or for other interviews for being easy-going all the time. He will do the job and do it in a professional way and I think that’s it.”