Graziano Pelle looks set to leave Saints for a mega money move to China.

The Italian striker is understood to be keen to tie up the switch to Shangdong Luneng, who are prepared to offer him a three-year contract worth around £6m a year.

They are also ready to pay Saints a fee of £13m to land Pelle.

For Saints the deal is a no-brainer, with Pelle about to turn 31, having suffered a niggling knee injury and with just one year left to run on his contract.

Added to that is that fact that Pelle has slipped down the pecking order at Saints, having spent the end of last season on the bench.

It is a transfer that makes sense for all parties, with Saints making a £5m profit on a player whose value would normally have not been so high, despite scoring 30 goals in all competitions over two seasons at St Mary’s.

The money in the Chinese league is, though, immense, and is set to benefit both Saints and Pelle.

It is understood that Saints are not going to move to immediately to replace Pelle once the move is complete.

The club always look and plan ahead and were prepared that Pelle would probably have left by the end of this summer, which is why they took pre-emptive action by signing Charlie Austin for just £4m in January.

It leaves them with still three frontline options for one striking role next season with Austin joined by Shane Long and the fit again Jay Rodriguez.

On top of that Ryan Seager is seen as a youngster that could make an impact, while Sam Gallagher is also in the background as another back-up option if required.

As reported in today’s Daily Echo, Saints are not looking to rush into the transfer market and splash out huge fees in what looks been a summer of huge Premier League spending.

Though they would ideally like a couple of signings to join Nathan Redmond, with Victor Wanyama needing replacing, and potentially a new right back, new manager Claude Puel wants to assess his squad and believes he already has a lot to work with.

Saints have two good options in most positions and so feel no need to spend big for the sake of it when their previous transfer policy has been so effective.