AMBITIOUS Saints have been told they need to splash the cash to bring in FIVE more top signings this summer.

So far Mauricio Pochettino has added just one player to his squad since the end of last season – £8.5m Croatian centre half Dejan Lovren from French club Lyon.

Saints have been linked with many more foreign internationals, including two defensive midfielders in Celtic’s Victor Wanyama and Cagliari’s Radja Nainggolan.

Former Saints striker Gordon Watson admits adding more central defenders should be a priority as Pochettino aims to take the club to the next level.

And Watson is adamant Saints also need to bring in a new striker to help take the load off talisman Rickie Lambert.

“Saints need to sign five more quality players,” he declared.

“They have brought in one, but they need a lot more if they want to take it to the next level.

“I would say they need two more top drawer centre halves because ideally you’d want four of them to pick from.

“We haven’t seen the new signing (Lovren) yet and we haven’t seen what (Vegard) Forren can do either.

“Jos Hooiveld and Jose Fonte are ok Premier League players, no more.

“And the jury is still out on Maya Yoshida because of his positioning.

“He likes to play behind the line and if other clubs capitalise on that it could be a massive problem for us.

“He wasn’t a positive for me.”

Lambert also needs someone to share the goals burden, says Watson.

The former Bristol Rovers man netted 15 Premier League goals in his first ever top flight campaign.

But no other Saint managed double figures, while Lambert also only scored one goal from open play in his last 11 league games of 2012/13.

“We need to sign a first team striker to play alongside Rickie,” said Watson.

“If you are serious about trying to get into Europe, you need at least three players in double figures.

“But last season we only had one.

“We need a natural goalscorer, someone like Darren Bent would be ideal.

“People might say he would cost too much, but I would say how much could it cost if you didn’t get a player like him?”

Lambert was one of the Saints success stories last term, and Watson said: “Rickie did very well.

“To finish as the joint top English scorer, you could not have asked for any more in his first Premier League season.

“He’s been on an upward curve ever since he joined Saints, but how many goals did he score towards the end of the season?

“Was he tired, was he burned out after a tough season?

“Or was the way he was being asked to play by Pochettino, not so far advanced, play a part?”