Saints took their summer spending to £8.5m in the space of just 48 hours as they continue to beef up their squad ready for the challenges of European football.

The capture of Cedric Soares, for an initial fee of £3.5m which could rise to £4.6m, came just two days after Saints paid £5m for diminutive Spanish attacking talent Juanmi.

The double swoop is another indication that Saints are planning for a tough season ahead, as they aim to maintain or improve upon their seventh placed Premier League finish while also forging ahead in the Europa League.

Ronald Koeman is acutely aware that his squad will likely have to shoulder a minimum of 50 competitive games next season, and that is even if they go out fairly early in the domestic cups and make it no further than the group stages in European competition.

Koeman had expressed concern that his squad was a little thin on numbers, with the quality in depth a big problem, and Saints have started impressively in their quest to provide the manager with what he needs.

Even after this double capture, Saints are still expected to strengthen further.

They will sign a new goalkeeper this summer to act as cover for the injured Fraser Forster, while they continue to monitor several other positions, including the central midfield area with question marks still hanging over whether Morgan Schneiderlin will stay at the club.

The capture of Soares is a smart move for many reasons, not least because it provides Saints will the perfect replacement should Nathaniel Clyne opt for a move away from Saints, with Liverpool primed to improve their initial £10m offer, rather than signing a new deal with the club.

In the event that he does stay at St Mary’s, right back is a position where Saints have lacked any kind of meaningful cover, instead having been forced to move players out of their regular roles to cover if Clyne was absent.

At just 23-year-old, Soares fits perfectly into the Saints mould of sign up and coming young talent, with Juanmi aged just 22.

Portuguese international right back Soares, an international teammate of Saints captain Jose Fonte, is German born but moved to Portugal aged two.

He came through the youth ranks at Sporting Lisbon, and has twice won the Portuguese Cup – once with Sporting and once when on loan at Academica de Coimbra.

Soares has made 67 club appearances, scoring two goals, while representing his nation through youth levels right up to the senior side, for whom he has four caps.

He was in the final year of contract at Sporting and had been offered a new deal but had his heart set on a move, with Saints beating off competition from Stoke for his signature.