Southampton enjoyed a 'dream summer', insists chairman Ralph Krueger

Chairman Ralph Krueger insists Southampton have enjoyed a "dream summer" despite the mass exodus of much of the club's top talent this summer.

Following their best-ever Premier League campaign, Saints lost manager Mauricio Pochettino and his coaching staff to Tottenham before Rickie Lambert, Luke Shaw, Adam Lallana, Dejan Lovren and Calum Chambers all also left the south coast.

But the club acted quickly by using the funds generated from those moves to bring in eight players for new head coach Ronald Koeman, who saw his side claim a 3-1 win at West Ham before the international break. 

"We feel we're in a stronger position than we entered this crazy transfer window," said Krueger.

"If someone had told me in the middle of May that - after the outs, including the managerial team, and the ins - we would be standing here speaking about what we have, I would say that would be a dream summer.

"We've had amazing financial discipline throughout it all. We still have a lot of work to do in the club. We didn't do everything perfectly this summer. We are never going to say that.

"We know we have a lot of lessons to take out of our summer steps, but they will help us in the future, for sure.

"There was a time in the summer where everybody would be thankful just for the team to be slightly competitive. I think we are more than slightly competitive now and we just have to stay patient.

"There are a lot of changes. There are eight new players from outside, five new from inside (promoted from the academy) - that's 13 players that need to be integrated.

"We've got a new management staff, so we're very patient. The potential of this group will not necessary show up in the next few weeks.

"Everybody around it needs to understand that all this change needs some time, let it be a one-off as far as the amount of change.

"We don't expect in the next transfer windows to come anywhere close to this kind of a situation again.

"We're doing everything possible to prevent that, which I think is comfort for those who I know went through sleepless nights - and, trust me, we did too."

The futures of Jay Rodriguez and Morgan Schneiderlin remain unclear despite Southampton holding onto the players during the summer in the face of heavy speculation linking both players to Spurs. 

"When we made the decision as a club, I have to say that there were conversations afterwards, but it never got uncomfortable," Krueger said.

"It never left the realm of being respectful and I respect Morgan even more today than I did when this all started, just because of the end process, the decisions we made and we gave him time.

"I said right from the start that I was never upset about his immediate reaction, knowing that we're all human beings and that can happen.

"Over time he's shown so much character and his reaction has been on the pitch to be the best possible player he can be and to accept the decision.

"It's a great example for an approach where a club and a player maybe has differences, but always deals eye-to-eye, we communicated very openly with each other."