Southampton must be ‘careful’ with finances, says Kieran Maguire

Maguire says Southampton could also face legal challenges from other clubs who missed out on a top-six place, as well as their own players.

“I have spoken to some Saints fans – some are being philosophical about it, some are still very angry,” he adds. “I think their anger is directed towards the club more than anybody else. And we still don’t know where we are in terms of, will there be cases lodged by Wrexham and other clubs who just missed out on the play-offs – could those be directed at Southampton?

“We don’t know what the position is in terms of the players who say they might have been denied the right to play in the Premier League.

“You take a look at a footballer’s contract. They are highly incentivised towards success and competing at the elite end, so I don’t think we have seen the end of legal issues over the course of the summer and it is not the reason why any of us have fallen in love with football.

“I think part of the reason there has been a silence from the club over the past few days is that they will have launched an internal investigation and will be trying to identify just how far up the management chain these events have been authorised or have people been turning a blind eye? Because there will be some very serious financial ramifications for individuals and potentially the club itself.”