"?It has emerged that former Roma manager Rudi Garcia is now the favourite to replace Ronald Koeman as Saints manager, according to "?reports from the south coast this week.
The 52-year-old Frenchman was released by Roma in January after a string of poor performances, but Garcia is ready to take on "an ambitious club and find a healthy project"?.
Garcia will recognise some faces that play in the Premier League after bringing through the likes of Eden Hazard and Yohan Cabaye during a successful spell managing Lille for five-years in Ligue 1.
If Southampton do get the experienced manager's signature, they will hope that Garcia can emulate the success that he enjoyed in France in the Premier League. He won a league and cup double in 2010/11 with Lille and claimed manager of the year in his homeland three times in 2011, 2013 and 2014.
When quizzed about his future prospects by TF1, he said, ""I could return to Ligue 1, or head north of Rome in Italy. I could also go to Spain, and why not even England or Germany? I see myself in one of the four or five best leagues in Europe. I want to work with an ambitious club and find a healthy project again."?
Rudi Garcia emerges as surprise favourite for Southampton job https://t.co/ZWA6BFoTHT pic.twitter.com/9oBv58BmrX
It's worth noting that despite the fact that he was sacked for a string of poor performances with Roma, he managed to break the club record on clean sheets in a season and also took Roma to their highest points tally ever when they finished runners-up in Serie A.
If he does make the move to Southampton, they'll have taken on a manager that has a great deal of experience across Europe who has an eye for young talent.