Rasmus Ankersen admitted the January transfer window was “very tough” for Saints as Sport Republic reaffirm its plan to build infrastructure and avoid the same mistakes.

Sport Republic’s CEO, Ankersen, stepped in during the winter window to lead Southampton’s recruitment charge in the absence of a head of recruitment.

Joe Shields had been poached by Chelsea just months into his role at Staplewood and Ankersen chaired a transfer committee made up of club board members.

The deals they got over the line were costly and unable to stave off relegation from the Premier League, which was confirmed with two games still remaining.

READ MORE: Southampton FC owners explain key incomings amid Championship target 

Paul Onuachu - £18million – and Mislav Orsic – over £5million – had next to no impact, while Kamaldeen Sulemana – a club-record £25million – only scored for the first time on the final day.

Daily Echo: Paul Onuachu started a Premier League game for the first time since February

Quizzed on the recruitment by the Daily Echo, Ankersen said: “January is always very tough, it is tough from a financial perspective.

“Nobody wants to lose their best players in January, players need to hit the ground running – it’s tough when there is no pre-season, so there is always a risk on recruitment.

“I think a couple of the players like (Charly) Alcaraz and to an extent Sulemana have done well, but there have clearly been some mishits where the players haven’t had an impact for one reason or another.”

Of the five signings brought in during the January window – including Alcaraz and James Bree – only the young Argentine midfielder can be considered a resounding success.

Sport Republic chairman Dragan Solak made an eye-opening and honest admission that points to just how chaotic the relegation season was.

“We also changed the game model unfortunately, we did the January window and then changed the manager,” the Serbian businessman reflected.

“Suddenly the new manager came in with new ideas and those players were basically brought in like a week ago. Hopefully, we will not have this situation again.”

Gaffer Nathan Jones, recruited to lead the club towards a more direct, aggressive style of play, was sacked just 12 days after the window shut.

But also including summer trading, a total of 14 players were signed and added to the first-team squad. Nine of them did not even start 50 per cent of the matches they were here for.

READ MORE: Breakdown of disastrous recruitment leading to Southampton relegation 

With over 30 senior players for new manager Ruben Selles to juggle in the failed run-in, it leaves Saints with a squad too large – even after the expected outgoings.

Daily Echo: Southampton players look dejected after relegation is confirmed (Adam Davy/PA)

Ankersen insisted: “There will be some turnover because the squad is too big but there are some very talented football players in that group which we will be intending to keep.

“I think it’s more an exciting job for the manager and director of football, if I was the manager that looked into the dressing room, I wouldn’t be too worried.”

But supporters have already seen the possible consequences of relegation from the Premier League and the drop to the bottom of League One that followed.

Club chairman Henrik Kraft had already moved to reassure fans of their long-standing commitment to the club at the fans’ forum, but further elaborated on their intentions.

“First of all, what we have said is that we are fully committed to the club and it is a long-term project,” he said. “There are other things that we are building with Sport Republic.

“This is to be able to create an infrastructure that actually gives us what we want long term, bringing players through in a different way so we’re not fighting on the last day of the transfer window.

“We believe that over two or three years we will move towards a much more sustainable business model. Obviously, we believe in the investments we have made and continue to make.”

Sport Republic plan for Saints to be “the flagship” in their multi-club model, which they intend to grow beyond the two clubs it already envelopes.

Saints and Turkish side Goztepe are both owned by Sport Republic already and the investment firm is said to be looking to secure a third club in France.

The plan is to get young, high-potential players into Sport Republic early and have them develop inside the portfolio – rather than having to purchase them for inflated prices.

Ankersen added: “We are not going to go in (the Premier League) and compete on money, we will invest, but that is why we are building the club network we are – to try and get the players into our system before they cost £30million.

“Time will tell whether that will be successful or not but I think there is some good evidence from other clubs that it is possible to do.

“There is also a lot of talent there in our squad that can improve, hopefully we can get a good pre-season, play some exciting football, entertain fans and win football matches.”