Southampton are advancing in talks to make Mark Hughes their permanent manager, with an announcement now expected early next week.

Both Hughes and Southampton want to prolong what was effectively an initial 10-week trial during which the club survived in the Premier League and the final details on a new deal are now being checked by lawyers.

Southampton’s previous two managers - Claude Puel and Mauricio Pellegrino were replaced within a year – and, while the contract on offer to Hughes is again likely to be up to three years, it may be more performance-orientated or include some type of break clause.

Hughes’s assistants, Mark Bowen and Eddie Niedzwiecki, are also in talks to stay on and their contracts are expected to be signed early next week. Southampton are not looking at any other managers and are also finalising pre-season plans that may include some time in China as part of a strategy to grow commercially in that region under the majority ownership of the Gao family.

The club are looking to add three or four players this summer and some departures are also expected, including Sofiane Boufal. Ryan Bertand and Cedric Soares may also be permitted to leave if there are big offers and they want to move.

Sofiane Boufal will likely leave Southampton this summer credit: Getty Images

Southampton now accept that it was a mistake to keep Virgil van Dijk against his will last summer, even though they ended up with a world record defender’s fee for him in January, but do still expect to keep the core of their squad together.

The future of executive director Les Reed is also likely to depend on talks with the Gao family about his ongoing control over the football operation.

So far, the Gaos have had complete faith in the existing executive team to drive the club’s direction and transfer strategy.