FORMER Arsenal defender Tony Adams yesterday made a surprising admission that Ralph Hasenhuttl offered him a job at Saints.

The claim goes back to 2019, when Saints assistant Danny Rohl had just left the club to join Bayern Munich after seven months working with Hasenhuttl.

Clearly, nothing materialised from the conversation between the pair, but it would have been an interesting and perhaps surprising move for some.

The ex-England international was assistant manager to Harry Redknapp at Portsmouth after joining in June 2006, before he took on the job on a permanent basis after the gaffer’s departure.

His assistant spell was successful with a club-high Premier League finish and FA Cup win, but his managerial spell ended after just 16 games and only ten points picked up, in February 2009.

Daily Echo: Tony Adams was sacked by Portsmouth in February 2009 (Pic: PA)Tony Adams was sacked by Portsmouth in February 2009 (Pic: PA)

On Sky Sports, Adams said: "Ralph (Hasenhuttl) called me a couple of years ago, I'd just had a knee operation.

“His assistant (Rohl) had just left and he called me and asked me to give him a hand at Southampton.”

Hasenhuttl ended up promoting Saints stalwart Kelvin Davis to his first-team staff with the former goalkeeper having had a past academy role.

Adams also has coaching experience with Dutch top division side Feyenoord, and had short stints as a manager with Azerbaijani side Gabala and Granada in Spain’s La Liga.