Report: Former Nice boss Puel emerges as Southampton favourite

Former Nice manager Claude Puel has reportedly surfaced as the favourite to fill the vacant top job at Southampton with an announcement coming next week.

Puel, 54, left the Cote d'Azur side in the summer after a three-year spell with the club, and now it appears that the former long-tenured Monaco defender is slated to manage another south coast outfit, according to a report from Jeremy Wilson of The Telegraph.

Related - Report: Southampton not considering Pellegrini for managerial job

A little more than a week after former Saints boss Ronald Koeman made the high-profile Everton switch, the job at St. Mary's has become a point of speculation, with names like Manuel Pellegrini, Eddie Howe, and Rudi Garcia bandied about.

Puel, who won Ligue 1 twice at Monaco, has a track record and set of virtues consistent with Southampton's profile. The Pyrenees-born gaffer has in the past displayed a willingness to promote academy players while working on a limited budget, something that both Koeman and his predecessor Mauricio Pochettino did to great results.

Nice standouts Vincent Koziello, Said Benrahma, and shot-stopper Yoan Cardinale are among a laundry list of young talents given a chance by Puel.

Southampton returns to training on June 28, and it's expected that the club will have a manager in place by then.