Ralph Hasenhuttl has allowed himself only a two-week summer holiday and returned to Staplewood to start preparing for next season.

At a time of the year when football clubs are traditionally on holiday, Hasenhuttl is putting in the hours to be ready to hit the ground running when the players return at the end of June.

Hasenhuttl did allow himself to unwind for a fortnight after wrapping up business following the end of a campaign in which he helped Saints maintain their Premier League status.

But he is back in his office and working hard again already.

Hasenhuttl is partly focussing on transfer business with Saints needing to shift a significant number of players this summer while also adding to the ranks with a few select signings.

The club are currently in the process of delivering him one of his top targets for the summer after agreeing a £14m fee with Standard Liege for winger Moussa Djenepo.

That move is set to go through subject to Saints securing the 20-year-old Mali international a work permit in the coming weeks.

Hasenhuttl also has other things to be working on.

He is trying to beef up his staffing behind the scenes ready for the new season.

When he joined Saints the only member of staff he brought in was Danny Rohl.

With Saints committed to backing Hasenhuttl however they can they are now willing to accept him recruiting more backroom staff across a variety of areas around the first team to enable him to put in place his full vision for the club.

On top of all of that he is also planning the pre-season training schedule.

Hasenhuttl has certain areas of the first team’s play that he wants to improve before the Premier League kicks-off again in August.

Having arrived mid-season and in the midst of a relegation battle it was a case of Hasenhuttl having to adapt as he went along.

But he wants to head into a new campaign with the squad fully up to speed with the style of play he wants to employ.

Hasenhuttl wants to refine the different systems the team plays and ensure that they can change formation multiple times in any given match without significant disruption.

Also to be worked on is his favoured 4-2-2-2 formation. Though he did field it at times in the final months of the campaign, Hasenhuttl was trying not to overcomplicate things at a difficult time for the squad.

To ensure the players are ready to hit the ground running Hasenhuttl has given them all an individual fitness plan to stick to during their summer breaks so he doesn’t have to spend days or even weeks of pre-season working on their physical capabilities and can immediately start tactical preparations.