The Athletic's David Ornstein has provided a fresh update on Southampton's hunt for a specialist in player trading, scouting and recruitment.

What's the word, then?

Well, the respected journalist delivered the news in his 'Ornstein on Monday' segment, where he also revealed when Southampton's new Director of Football Matt Crocker will begin work - February 1st, for those of you who were wondering.

Crocker - who used to work for the Saints between 2006 and 2013 before joining the FA - will oversee the youth academy, sports medicine and science departments at St Mary's when he begins work.

Significantly, however, Ornstein states that The Athletic do not believe Southampton will bring in a specialist in player trading, scouting and recruitment before the end of the season, which could be costly.

Such an important window

Ideally, Southampton would have someone employed in the role long before the start of the summer window, so that they can get their feet under the table and begin planning for what is going to be a hugely important transfer window for the Saints.

The club have a number of first-team players who are either going to be out of contract in the summer or the summer of 2021, including Maya Yoshida, Cedric, Pierre-Emile Højbjerg and Shane Long.

On the topic of Cedric, the Portugal international is one of only two right-backs at Hasenhuttl's disposal, including 20-year-old Yan Valery who hasn't made an appearance since November due to illness - Cedric has also revealed his desire to leave in an interview with The Telegraph.

Southampton are also believed to be open to selling Jannik Vestergaard, and with only the Dane and Yoshida to cover for Jack Stephens and Jan Bednarek, the summer window is going to be a hugely important one in terms of adding strength to thin areas while also shipping out deadwood.

Also, Hasenhuttl is yet to make any major changes to his squad, having signed just three players since replacing Mark Hughes in Kevin Danso, Moussa Djenepo and Che Adams - the Danny Ings deal was agreed before the Austrian arrived.

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Such a monumental task will undoubtedly require a lot of planning, so for Southampton to not have someone in the role before the end of the campaign could well leave whoever takes that job with a mountain to climb.

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