Chairman Ralph Krueger has described Matt Le Tissier as “a trusted friend of the club” and says the board will continue to embrace Saints’ history.

Krueger even hopes the presence of former players such as Le Tissier and Francis Benali around St Mary’s can help persuade some of today’s stars of the value of staying loyal to the club in the future.

The arrival of the current board earlier in the year has led to Le Tissier becoming a far more noted figure around St Mary’s than he was under previous chairman Nicola Cortese, with whom he experienced a frosty relationship.

“For me, it has been really natural from the first day I met Matt a few months into the new year,” said Krueger, who described it as an “honour” to have had Le Tissier in the directors’ box for Saturday’s match against Newcastle.

“It was February or March we came together and it was just natural.

“He fits the values that we want to exude here with the Saints, and the line we want to go on.

“He has been wonderful in the background, just as a supporter of the difficult summer we had, and somebody I can soundboard off once in a while – discussions outside the inner circle.

“He is a trusted friend already of the club.”

Le Tissier, voted by fans as the club’s greatest ever player, was one of many ex-Saints invited to St Mary’s on Saturday, as he greeted his best friend Benali at the end of the 45-year-old’s incredible 1,000-mile charity running challenge.

A packed crowd was on its feet to welcome the former left-back as he completed his mission to run to all 20 Premier League grounds – a remarkable effort that has raised well over £100,000 for Cancer Research UK.

Former club greats such as Lawrie McMenemy, Nick Holmes, Glenn Cockerill, Denis Hollywood, Jim Steele and Bryn Elliott were also invited along to welcome Benali onto the pitch.

It is debatable whether such a scene would have been possible not so long ago, however Benali had, for some time while Cortese was in charge, not been welcome at St Mary’s.

That state of affairs stemmed from a legal dispute that had seen Benali launch a claim over the lease of his former home, in Chilworth.

The property had been rented out by the club, for Cortese and his family to live in, but it was later alleged that certain payments had not been made and that the property was not maintained appropriately, leaving Benali with repair bills running into five figures.

In the end, Saints settled the matter out of court by paying an undisclosed financial sum.

While Benali had received a call to say he was welcome back at St Mary’s again shortly before Cortese departed in January, there is no comparison when it comes to his relationship with the current hierarchy.

Krueger never enters into discussions over what went on before he arrived, but he says he is well aware of the importance of players such as Le Tissier and Benali in the club’s history.

He is keen to use the esteem they are held in throughout the city as an example to those at Saints now.

“It is something we want to make sure that the expectations of players that are here, where we learn from this summer and try to work with the experience of players from the past to reignite that kind of loyalty and passion for a one-club lifestyle,” he said.

“That is not going to be possible to do with all players, but it is certainly using players like that as an example – look what life is giving back to them now that they did that for Southampton.

“They are so respected in the community, I can see the support they get around here.

“It is nice to see those stories, but it is a different football world today. We know that, but we would like to still tap into what their experiences were.”