Southampton owners Sport Republic's Henrik Kraft has declared they are delighted with the past year at the club.

The London-based investment firm acquired a controlling stake in Southampton around a year ago from ex-owner Gao Jisheng.

The club's value has gone up in that time, while they spent around £70 million on talent for the first-team in the summer transfer window.

In a new interview with The Athletic, Kraft stated: “It's been great. We're really happy with how it's gone so far.

“We've been accepted into the company and working very well with the team.

“We've done our deep assessment and that phase is over. The next phase will take several years of improving and moving forward. We're still full of ideas.

“We tried very hard (to get a striker)," Kraft added.

“We were very close and had at least two very high-quality candidates and they agreed personal terms."