PAUL Sturrock's words of optimism for his summer transfer adventure have proved music to Saints fans' ears - and already the St Mary's faithful are starting to select who THEY would buy!

The Saints boss revealed in yesterday's Daily Echo that he wants to strengthen in three or four key areas, bringing in experienced Premiership players or top class foreigners.

Those words have been roundly welcomed by Saints fans who feel their club, while rightly cautious financially, have at times been a little unambitious in the transfer market.

Sturrock has admitted that Saints have an exciting "fringe" of young talent.

But now he wants to try and add the kind of quality that can walk straight into the first team.

Only he and his scouts know who they are focusing in on and, with the transfer window opening at the end of the week, the rumour mill is beginning to crank up.

Leeds teenager James Milner has already been heavily linked and, while not the most experienced - just 33 league starts for United and Swindon on loan - fits the bill as an ambitious signing for Saints.

He plays on the left of midfield, and that's been a problematic area for Saints this season.

There are always going to be good players to come from the cast-offs of the top five and the best of the relegated Premiership teams as well as often cheaper foreign imports.

Chelsea is where everybody looks now, due to the huge number of quality players they have and the fact they will no doubt spend big again this summer. This leaves players surplus to requirements and several clubs have benefited - most notably Birmingham and Pompey with their loans of Mikael Forssell and Alexi Smertin respectively.

Also Carlton Cole has been on loan at Charlton all season.

Arsenal have loaned out winger Jermaine Pennant, who this time last year had just smashed a rapid hat-trick for the Gunners against Saints, to Leeds all season.

And it is claimed Nottingham Forest want to take young midfielder David Bentley on loan from Highbury for the 2004/05 campaign.

The Daily Echo has received letters from Saints fans all season championing Pennant as the sort of player the club should be looking to sign.

But would he be able to walk straight into Sturrock's starting line-up?

Staying at Highbury, would an experienced man like Ray Parlour be someone who could help sort out the midfield problems Sturrock has encountered since his March arrival? Or would someone like Sylvain Wiltord, an attacker surplus to requirements at Arsenal, be the sort of "course and distance" player Sturrock has been referring to?

West Brom's Jason Koumas might have been persuaded to join if the price was right and the Baggies had failed to come up - but their promotion halted that hope.

The real bargains, though, do come from abroad and teams like Porto and Monaco have managed to work wonders in getting in good players on a restricted budget - albeit Monaco have the distinct advantage of being able to offer tax free wages.

As always with Saints, the salaries they are prepared to offer could be a stumbling block.

Fans have claimed the club should have been looking to sign the likes of Joe Cole and Jermaine Defoe last summer or even Nicky Butt when he was linked to Birmingham earlier this year.

But the main problem with 'star' names is whether Rupert Lowe is prepared to break his wage structure - the best-paid players at Saints are believed to be earning around £15,000 a week.

Bolton are trying to lure top talent for high wages but on free transfers - Rivaldo is an obvious example. And Middlesbrough chairman Steve Gibson has been happy to pump high salaries towards the likes of Gaizka Mendieta and Bodo Zenden, another who is on loan from Chelsea.

But for all the big foreign names at those two clubs, are they really in a much better position than Saints?

It might be that Luggy, armed with his stack of contacts north of the border, has a close look at who's available in Scotland. With Rangers still looking to reduce their large financial worries, the likes of foreigners Mikel Arteta and Shota Arveladze, whose seasons have been hit by injuries.

There was speculation that Sturrock could be interested in the left-sided Alan Thompson at Celtic, but the England man signed a new Parkhead contract last month.

Much will also depend on what sort of money Sturrock has to spend.

That's difficult to call and could also relate to what he can sell, thus freeing up some extra room on the wage bill.

Sturrock is not used to spending big - the most he has ever forked out as a manager is the £700,000 he paid for Alex Mathie when in charge of Dundee United six years ago.

But that could well change soon.

Whatever happens, Sturrock's words have given Saints fans hope for one of their most exciting summers yet.