Southampton hope to wrap up the signing of highly-rated forward Gaston Ramirez from Bologna in the next 24 hours.

The Argentina international has been heavily linked with an £11million move to the south-coast club.

After their Capital One Cup victory at Stevenage, Saints boss Nigel Adkins would not talk about the player until all the paperwork has gone through, but admitted the size of the fee involved shows just how ambitious the club's hierarchy are.

"Until the pieces of paper are signed you can never say it's done but the chairman is working exceptionally hard behind scenes and is backing us in what we do," Adkins said when asked about Ramirez.

"We are very ambitious and there is serious cash to be outlaid if it's going to happen."