Claude Puel’s position at Southampton is becoming more and more scrutinised as the days go by, and it’s looking unlikely that he’ll be at the club come the start of the transfer window.

Saint-Etienne appear to have prioritised him as their number one managerial target this summer and all reports point towards Puel taking up their offer. However, nothing is nailed on just yet and for the time being, Puel is indeed Saints’ manager.

The men behind the scenes at St Mary’s – Les Reed in particular – have a reputation for leaving no stone unturned, allowing the club to flourish due to the meticulous analysis and preparation that comes before appointing managers and signing players. However, they’re going to need to be on top form to get this next appointment right if Puel is to seek pastures new, with a huge summer ahead.

There are a plethora of top managers out there, but it’ll all be about finding the right one for Southampton as a club.

So, I’ve taken a look at three potential avenues that Saints could explore in their likely pursuit of a new manager, identifying all types of different options.

Inspired by Squawka, here are three options I’ve picked out to replace Puel – a realistic appointment, a wildcard choice and a dream man for the job.

Realistic – Roger Schmidt

Schmidt is currently without a job, having been relieved of his duties at Bayer Leverkusen in March as the club sat in ninth place. It’s been a highly underwhelming campaign for Bundesliga side who, having appointed and since dismissed Tayfun Korkut, finished 12th; the lowest finish for the club since 2003.

Expectations were high for Schmidt, and he did indeed fail to live up to them. Leverkusen had a superb group of young players, but a culmination of issues from the top to the bottom of the club saw the experienced coach take the role of the fall guy, seeing him sacked.

Upon his arrival at Leverkusen, Schmidt was met by the apprehension of the fans. He had just come off the back of two successful years out in Austria with Red Bull Salzburg, exercising unorthodox training methods that brought great success, including an absolute landslide victory of the Austrian Bundesliga in his final season.

Despite this, his credentials were questioned and understandably so, as he leapt into a prestigious post at a top Bundesliga club. His first season brought relative success, leading Leverkusen to fourth place in the league, a quarter-final in the DfB Pokal and the round of 16 in the Champions League, losing out narrowly to Atletico Madrid on penalties.

His second season brought arguably more success, too. Having fully adapted to the Bundesliga, Schmidt pushed his Leverkusen side up to third in the Bundesliga, once again reached the quarter finals or the DfB Pokal, was extremely unlucky to see his side exit the Champions League at the group stages to Roma and progressed to the round of 16 in the Europa League.

The idea of Schmidt in charge of Saints is an exciting one, and it’s most certainly realistic. Given his availability, it’s a plausible option for Saints and given that he’s reportedly spoken to Watford about a return to management, he’d almost certainly be keen to take up a job at a club such as that of Southampton’s.

Schmidt plays attacking, expansive football with a high-risk, high-reward mentality. The style of play has been bemoaned at St Mary’s this season but with the 50-year-old’s stereotypically German footballing philosophy, calls for Saints to attack more would indefinitely be reduced.

He has been known to use a high intensity approach to the game, making use of Gegenpressing, implementing an aggressive and forward-thinking mentality wherever he’s coached, and would almost certainly be a strong fit for the Saints job.

Wildcard – Mauricio Pellegrino

Pellegrino has confirmed that he is to leave Deportivo Alavés this summer after enjoying a quite excellent season out in Spain.

The Argentinian tactician took charge of Alavés after they secured promotion from the Segunda Dívision to La Liga, replacing José Bordalás as he was poached by Getafe after a strong season in the second tier of Spanish football.

Generally speaking, Alavés were nailed on to go down. They had appointed Pellegrino who had endured an unsuccessful first tenure as a coach in Spain with Valencia, and the expectations were rather low.

But boy, did Pellegrino defy the odds.

Pellegrino leaves Alavés having finished commendably high in the La Liga table, securing a top half finish in ninth place and ensuring that El Glorioso will be playing top flight football next season. He also managed to lead them to an elusive Copa Del Rey final, where they were unfortunate to have been matched up against the force that is Barcelona, only finishing as runners-up.

The 45-year-old was a central defender back in his playing days, and has always put an onus on the defensive side of the game; setting his teams up in a well-organised, disciplined manner. His style of play brings an insurance policy to his attackers, but this isn’t to say that he takes risks. He’s a highly pragmatic manager, and his style isn’t exactly for everyone. You could argue his football is more conservative than Puel’s.

Pellegrino is a defensively-orientated coach by trade, having worked under and followed Rafa Benitez to both Liverpool and Inter Milan – also working alongside the familiar face of Sammy Lee – meaning that he has developed his philosophy based on the influence’s of the Spaniard.

While Saints fans may not be too welcoming of another defensively-minded coach, Pellegrino does have some qualities that would be well suited to the club. He has developed a lot of Alavés’ squad, playing a big part in the development of Théo Hernandez particularly, who is set for a move to Real Madrid.

He’s largely expected to make a return to his homeland of Argentina, but a move to a Premier League club with the potential that Southampton boasts could be something that is too good to refuse.

Dream – Thomas Tuchel

The clue’s in the title – dream.

Now, this isn’t to say nor suggest that appointing Tuchel is a realistic possibility for Saints, but it may not be as far-fetched as it looks on paper.

The German tactician has officially left Borussia Dortmund having fallen out with the powers at be, leaving them after a relatively successful season with the club, leading them to a third place finish in the Bundesliga, helping them to the quarter-finals of the Champions League and also leading them to victory in the DfB Pokal.

A move from Borussia Dortmund to Southampton is never one that would seem plausible, but it is indeed a better fit for both parties than what would often meet the eye.

Tuchel was brilliant at Mainz and continued the same trends at Dortmund, developing young players and instilling them into the first-team setups. He’s a superb man manager and clearly has an excellent coaching nous about him. This element of player development is something that Saints have endorsed for years now, and something that would ultimately attract them.

Secondly, regardless of what anyone else says, every single top manager will want to manage in the Premier League at some stage. Having spent his first ten years as a coach in his native Germany, Tuchel will surely fancy a change. He’ll be keen to test himself in another top European league, and will undoubtedly want to manage at a top club in England one day.

However, he may very well find this difficult. No top six club in the Premier League will need to replace their manager this summer, and opportunities to take charge of big clubs across Europe are looking to be somewhat scarce this summer.

At just 43, Tuchel will be determined to see how he measures up against some of the best managers in the game. Simply put, the best way for him to do this is by joining a Premier League club. Southampton may not be the Champions League outfit he’d ideally like to take charge of, but their reputation as a stepping stone club and their lowered expectations compared to the likes of Dortmund would probably appeal to the German.

He also worked under a director of football at Dortmund, Michael Zorc, so an unlikely move to Saints would mean that he has experience of working under a figure such as Les Reed, who appears to think along the same wavelength in terms of footballing philosophy and recruitment strategy.

As aforementioned, this one is highly unlikely. It’s probably unrealistic. But if Saints really want to kick on and show ambition and the desire to break onto the European scene again, I can think of plenty worse ideas than for Reed to get on the phone to Tuchel and sound him out for the role.

If you don’t ask, you don’t get. Let’s see Southampton ask some more questions.