The Argentinian is expected to follow his captures of defender Dejan Lovren, from Lyon, and midfielder Victor Wanyama, from Celtic, for a combined £21m by stepping up interest in AS Roma’s £12m-rated striker Pablo Osvaldo.
The pair were together at Espanyol and Pochettino, who needs competition for Rickie Lambert and Jay Rodriguez, said: “Osvaldo is a great player. I know what he can do.”
But amid the multi-million-pound flurry of activity at St Mary’s, Pochettino has put the finishing touches to a ‘signing’ that could be worth much more in the long term.
He has handed birthday boy Luke Shaw a lucrative new contract instead of a card this weekend as the whiz kid hailed as the next Gareth Bale turned his back on the fame drain out of Southampton.
Shaw celebrated his 18th birthday by committing himself to the club that has previously proved helpless to prevent the likes of Bale, Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain leaving for the seemingly greener grass of London.
And as Shaw suns himself with the rest of his team-mates in Spain this morning, Arsenal, Chelsea and Spurs have all been left behind to reflect on the one that got away this time, rather than Southampton.
All three London giants enquired about the England Under-21 left-back, whose family home is just a stone’s throw from Chelsea’s training ground, at Cobham, Surrey.
But the youngster, who is being tipped to be even better than man of the moment Bale, has opted not to follow in the Welsh wizard’s footsteps – for the time being at any rate – and stick with the Saints, who made him a Premier League regular at just 17 last season.
The Argentinian is expected to follow his captures of defender Dejan Lovren, from Lyon, and midfielder Victor Wanyama, from Celtic, for a combined £21m by stepping up interest in AS Roma’s £12m-rated striker Pablo Osvaldo.
The pair were together at Espanyol and Pochettino, who needs competition for Rickie Lambert and Jay Rodriguez, said: “Osvaldo is a great player. I know what he can do.”
But amid the multi-million-pound flurry of activity at St Mary’s, Pochettino has put the finishing touches to a ‘signing’ that could be worth much more in the long term.
He has handed birthday boy Luke Shaw a lucrative new contract instead of a card this weekend as the whiz kid hailed as the next Gareth Bale turned his back on the fame drain out of Southampton.
Shaw celebrated his 18th birthday by committing himself to the club that has previously proved helpless to prevent the likes of Bale, Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain leaving for the seemingly greener grass of London.
And as Shaw suns himself with the rest of his team-mates in Spain this morning, Arsenal, Chelsea and Spurs have all been left behind to reflect on the one that got away this time, rather than Southampton.
All three London giants enquired about the England Under-21 left-back, whose family home is just a stone’s throw from Chelsea’s training ground, at Cobham, Surrey.
But the youngster, who is being tipped to be even better than man of the moment Bale, has opted not to follow in the Welsh wizard’s footsteps – for the time being at any rate – and stick with the Saints, who made him a Premier League regular at just 17 last season.
He is being joined by midfielder Omar Rowe and goalkeeper Will Britt, two more teenagers from Southampton’s academy conveyor belt who have also signed professional contracts, having come from the same scholarship intake as Shaw and James Ward-Prowse.
Pochettino has made no secret of his belief that keeping Shaw away from the clutches of major Premier League rivals is just as important as signing 22-year-old Wanyama on a four-year contract in what is the biggest transfer in Scottish football history.
That deal equalled the club record fee Saints paid Bologna last summer for Gastón RamÃrez – and there will be more where that came from.
Wanyama, the first Kenyan player to feature in the Premier League, is set to join his new team-mates in Spain this week before heading off with them to Austria for the second leg of Southampton’s pre-season tour.
In the meantime, Pochettino will stay in daily contact with staff at St Mary’s as Southampton step up efforts to build dramatically on the impressive performances they produced under him towards the end of last season.
“I am working prudently to improve the squad,” the manager added.
Bookies William Hill are offering odds of just 6/1 on Southampton qualifying for Europe via any means next season and only 14/1 on them finishing in the top seven.
