HAVING surprised everyone after a summer of turmoil that saw the big-spending top four vultures swoop in and pick the club of their stars, Southampton ended last season in an impressive seventh place — their highest ever Premier League position — clinching a place in Europe at the same time.

Ronald Koeman’s shrewd signings last season were able to limit the damage of lost players and the big question will be whether he can repeat that success with this season’s new crop.

After hanging onto key man Morgan Schneiderlin last year, despite him voicing his discontent, it was inevitable that the midfielder would seal his big move, to Manchester United, this summer.

Impressive right back Nathaniel Clyne has also departed for Liverpool and the side have missed out on keeping loanee centre back Toby Alderweireld who returned to parent club Atletico Madrid before signing for Tottenham.

While the numbers leaving are lower than last season, finding a replacement for influential central midfielder Schneiderlin will be the two-time manager of the month’s toughest challenge.

However the ever-cool Dutch boss has wasted no time in plugging the gaps by bringing in highly rated Malaga youngster Juanmi, Sporting Lisbon full back Cedric Soares to replace Clyne, FC Twente’s utility man Cuco Martina — for a combined £10 million. Koeman has also added the brilliant Jordy Clasie for a cool £8m. The up-and-coming 24-year-old was brought into the Feyenoord first team by Koeman during his reign there.

With goalkeeper Fraser Forster cruelly ruled out with injury, in comes Maarten Stekelenburg from Fulham and 2012-13 top-scorer Jay Rodriguez’s return from a year-long injury is another boost to the Saints’ depleted squad.

The addition of Europa League games can often be seen as a burden by sides fighting to maintain or improve on their league position, but the south-coast side put in an impressive third qualifying round display. Dutch side Vitesse Arnhem were pounded 3-0 in the home leg to put the Saints in a strong position going into the second leg and give their squad a crucial chance to gel in some competitive games before the league kicks off.

Graziano Pelle, Dusan Tadic and Shane Long picked up where they left off, all making the scoresheet, while a number of the new signings put in eye-catching displays that will fill the Saint Mary’s faithful with confidence ahead of the new campaign.

The only cloud is the potential loss of Clasie, who seemed to tweak his hamstring during the encounter and could miss the start of the domestic season.

Having proved the doubters wrong last season, picking up many admirers with some very attractive football, Southampton will surely not make the relegation predictions of many this season. A top-eight finish will be expected as a minimum. However, whether Koeman has enough of a magic touch to propel his side to the next level remains to be seen, but there is a lot of promise there.