NEW group technical director Johannes Spors will emphasise signing high potential players at Saints but admitted a balance must be struck.

Spors has assumed responsibility for "all football decisions" at Saints and is currently evaluating the recruitment structure employed by the club.

Their strategy has yielded mixed results under Sport Republic, and manager Ivan Juric has expressed concerns about the inexperience of his squad.

But Spors believes building a youthful squad, with the right mix of potential and current ability, will give Saints the best chance of long-term success.

"I want young squads with the right balance. They all get older, some of ours have experience now in the Premier League," he told the Daily Echo.

"Players who have arrived young are now really experienced. In general, I don't make the differentiation between young and old so much.

Mateus Fernandes, 20, has impressed during his first Premier League season.Mateus Fernandes, 20, has impressed during his first Premier League season. (Image: Stuart Martin)

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"I'm 100 per cent aware of leadership, managing dressing rooms, needing the right amount of peak-age players who are able to perform on the level where you are.

"It's very important, but talent is also very important for several reasons. We need this energy of growth, of development, players who fight for their next step.

"We have to set the environment so they can grow. And if you don't have enough players that want to grow, the best environment doesn't help."

Spors will take ultimate responsibility for all players bought and sold but will work closely with the owners, CEO Phil Parsons and the manager before recruiting.

Uncertainty remains around Juric's future - the Croatian has lost 10 of his 11 Premier League games since signing an 18-month contract in December.

However, Saints aim to play "a very intense style of football" whether the former AS Roma boss remains in charge next season or a new man is appointed.

Spors believes clarity on the club's philosophy will aid recruitment, no matter who is in the dugout come the start of the new season in August.

"The direction in the style of play we are going now is a good fit for this club. This very intense style of football is something that fits here," he said.

"This leads to scouting processes. I think players need to be physically strong. They need to be fast. They need to have some aggressiveness in their mentality.

"If you just give these headlines to a scouting department there is already a clear profile. Then we go into much more detail with our data analytics and traditional scouting."

New group technical director Johannes Spors was pictured at St Mary's during the FA Cup fourth round.New group technical director Johannes Spors was pictured at St Mary's during the FA Cup fourth round. (Image: Stuart Martin)

Spors added: "We should not change the style of play very often. Most important is that when you do change, it has to be an active decision.

"That is what happened recently. It was not my decision, it was quite long before my time, but from what I have understood, this was exactly what was wanted.

"What happens often is that clubs change a manager in the past without really defining what style of play they want to have."

The club's decision to replace Russell Martin with Juric has not paid dividends and they currently find themselves 14 points adrift with 10 games to go.

Spors understands that relegation is coming and is preparing to build a squad that can bounce straight back from the Championship.

"We go into the Championship and there we will play every couple of days. Regeneration is very important," the German claimed.

"You can either manage that with the size of the squad, by using many players, or you can make sure that you have players that regenerate very fast.

"Not that older players can't do that, they absolutely can - but it's a bit easier the younger they are."

Johannes Spors alongside CEO Phil Parsons and director of football operations Mark Bitcon.Johannes Spors alongside CEO Phil Parsons and director of football operations Mark Bitcon. (Image: Stuart Martin)

Signing high-potential players also means more opportunities to turn a profit, and although Saints are diversifying their revenue streams, player trading remains key.

Romeo Lavia and Tino Livramento are notable recent success stories, while any deals to sell Mateus Fernandes or Taylor Harwood-Bellis could spin further profit.

"I think it's essential (to make a profit) but I don't want to give the impression that we are doing this here as a business model," Spors concluded.

"We are doing things here as a football club, but both go in the same direction. I think this club can only be very successful if you have development and growth in revenues.

"The best thing that can happen for us is that we develop players and then we can decide if we want to use the revenue or if we want to keep the quality of the players.

"I'm pretty sure in the future we will decide that quite often we want to keep the quality of the player, but it gives the ownership the possibility. That's what I want to create."