Sofiane Boufal is facing three weeks out with a knee injury after being sent home injured from the Africa Cup of Nations.

Saints’ £16m club record signing was expected to be away with Morocco for at least that long, but Claude Puel confirmed that inflammation on the previous knee injury that stopped him playing early in his time with the club, means he will undergo treatment at Staplewood instead.

He said: “Sofiane Boufal is injured with his knee.

“He cannot handle the African Cup and he stays with us to recovery.

“I hope he can come back in three weeks.

“It is not an important injury, it is an inflammation of his knee, but he cannot play for his country.

“I hope we can recover him.”

He added: “It is just inflammation. It is not a bad injury and it is normal because after the operation sometimes the reaction of his knee.

“It is not important if you stay with a good recovery for a few days and after it is ok for us, and for Sofiane important to be careful about this injury and these possibilities.

“It’s a good thing he can stay quiet, calm, because I think now it’s an important player for the squad with quality and he can do the difference with the dribble and quality, and it’s important he comes back with a good fit.”