PELL: NO BUYS,NO PANIC... JUST BE PATIENT

SOUTHAMPTON boss Mauricio Pellegrino is refusing to panic about the club’s lack of January buys.

Saints have £75million to spend after selling Virgil van Dijk to Liverpool but suffered a blow when Theo Walcott (below) turned his back on a return to St Mary’s to join Everton instead.

Pellegrino (above), whose strugglers host in-form Tottenham tomorrow, said: “We did everything to try to bring Theo here but we have to accept that, it’s part of our job.

“Negotiations are about two parties and at this moment we can do nothing. Obviously money is part of the negotiations. “The concern is to try and bring in a couple of targets. We have got another option and we have to continue with our job.

“If we bring people here it is because we think they will improve the squad, otherwise it doesn’t make sense. “To bring anybody just to bring somebody? No. “The board is working really hard. To bring players is easy but to bring good players when a lot of teams are fighting for them is difficult.

“I have to be optimistic that in the next few days something big will happen.

“We have to be calm even in difficult situations. I’d rather bring one player instead of three when we wouldn’t be sure they would improve the squad.”

Saints have been dragged into the relegation battle after a run of 10 Premier League games without a victory – and only West Brom have won fewer matches this season.

Despite fans calling for him to be sacked, Pellegrino is confident he is the man to turn the south-coast side’s fortunes around. The Argentine added: “We need to keep growing like we did in the recent games.

“We are not happy with our position but in three or four weeks’ time everything can change.”