SAINTS boss Mauricio Pochettino has made a real statement of intent with his early summer signing of Croatian international defender Dejan Lovren – and more big name signings could follow.

Lovren, pictured right, was unveiled as Mauricio Pochettino’s first signing as Saints boss late on Friday night for £8.5m, becoming Saints’ second most expensive player ever in the process.

And, with Saints reportedly lining up moves for a new central midfield player, striker, wide player and right-back, it is certain Pochettino will be flexing his transfer muscles again soon.

Below, Simon Carter gives his view:

STATEMENT of intent to get Saints fans excited about the next few months.

That is how the signing of Croatian international defender Dejan Lovren should be seen.

Lovren was unveiled as Mauricio Pochettino’s first signing as Saints boss late on Friday night for £8.5m.

In an instant, he became the club’s second most expensive player ever at a cost of £8.5m from French top flight club Lyon.

Lovren is a current international player with experience of turning out in a top European league.

And, at 23 – though he turns 24 early next month – he certainly has his best days ahead of him.

With all that in mind, don’t be surprised if Lovren becomes a template for future Pochettino signings – and we can be assured there will be some.

Last season Saints bought some unpolished gems who had never played in a major European league before.

The likes of Nathaniel Clyne and Jay Rodriguez went on to enjoy impressive first seasons in the Premier League.

But there is no substitute for international class and Saints must be applauded for striking fairly early in terms of the summer transfer market.

Last summer most Saints fans knew the club needed to strengthen in the centre of defence.

Manager Nigel Adkins must have known. Chairman Nicola Cortese must have known.

For whatever reason though, Saints left themselves short in that area when the 2012/13 season began – and they paid the price for it in terms of early season results.

This time, it is different.

The club have not only strengthend in an area that really needed addressing, but they have done it ahead of the squad returning for pre-season training.

That will give Lovren a full pre season with his new colleagues, and that sort of time will be beneficial to all parties.

In Saturday’s Daily Echo, we published a table showing Saints were top of the Premier League last season in terms of fielding English players – 13 out of 25.

That is also to be applauded, but do not be surprised if that figure tails off in 2013/14.

Like Michael Laudrup at Swansea, I expect Pochettino to sign mainly foreign players.

Possibly from La Liga, a league he knows well, or from elsewhere, as in the case of Lovren.

I also expect him to spend a lot more than Laudrup did last summer as Saints aim to build a squad that can live up to Cortese’s dream of qualifying for the Champions League.

To get even near that he will need to spend more money on more international-quality players.

He has made a good start, though.

Next on the Saints shopping list, as previously revealed in the Daily Echo, will be a right back, a winger and a striker.

Last summer Saints spent just over £30m ahead of their Premier League return, and it was enough to finish just outside the drop zone.

Ambitions are much higher now at St Mary’s, and that comes at a price.

Saints have more money to splash out now.

After all, they will receive an extra £25m just from being in the top flight next season as a result of the new television contract deals kicking in.

That will almost pay for four more players in Lovren’s transfer fee range, before any extra monies Cortese, pictured left, has managed to obtain from the Liebherr estate are taken into consideration.

Lovren is the first, but he will not be the last.

In 2012/13, Premier League clubs signed over 160 players at a cost of around £4m each.

That says a lot about the cash-rich nature of the English top flight these days, and Manchester City have already spent over £40m on two players in a bid to win the title again.

Lovren’s arrival is a statement of intent, and it sets the scene for more weeks of great transfer speculation and activity.

Bring it on!