Hughes on the verge of new Southampton deal

Hughes, who took charge of two Premier League sides over the course of the 2017/18 period, had mixed fortunes this season. The English coach had a poor spell at Stoke, who ended up relegated at the end of the season, but then saved Southampton from relegation after moving there for the final stretch. 

It appears that it's this strong end to the season that the Southampton are keeping in mind, as they are reportedly close to offering Hughes a three-year contract to take over as permanent coach at the club. 

As reported by 'Sky Sports', Saints are on the verge of signing 'Sparky' up, after he secured eleven points from ten games to prevent a catastrophic season ending in relegation. 

Speaking to the English outlet, Southampton chairman was very thankful for what Hughes had done. "In February we realised we were in a relegation battle and that was an abyss that was daunting to look at for the first time in my time here," Krueger said.

"Our players came together with our change of coaching with Mark Hughes and our staff stayed calm. The club has huge momentum moving forward now but we might have had a different conversation had we got one goal less than Swansea!"

"We got it done. Overall I'm pleased with the finish, very disappointed with the season and extremely hungry to put all the lessons we learned this year into play."