Southampton boss Mark Hughes makes big Nathan Redmond claim ahead of Wigan FA Cup tie

Saints new manager tried to sign Redmond from Norwich two years ago when he was managing Stoke, but the former England winger chose St Mary's instead in a £10million move.

Now Hughes has finally got his man Redmond will get the chance to help rescue Southampton, as well as his international career, which had been flagging under former boss Mauricio Pellegrino.

"Nathan has been very positive, I’ve had a good insight already," said Hughes. "He’s a creative player. We need to score goals and create chances, and we need him functioning and playing at the best of his ability. It’s up to us to make sure we bring out the best in him."

Ironically Redmond isn't the only Southampton player Hughes coveted when he was at Stoke. He also wanted to sign SIX others! Midfielder Mario Lemina was a Hughes target before Southampton paid a club record £18million to sign him from Juventus last summer.

Portugese defender Cedric Soares was another who snubbed Stoke in favour of the South Coast when he joined from Sporting Lisbon for £4.7million.

It was a similar story when former Napoli striker Manolo Gabbiadini and FC Twente midfielder Dusan Tadic both moved to Southampton instead of the Potteries.

And Sofiane Boufal and Shane Long make up the six who got away from Hughes at Stoke.

Now the Welshman is hoping his judgement will finally come good in the couple of months he has to save Southampton's Premier League bacon.

"Its about me having one-to-ones, sitting down with these guys, understanding where they are coming from," he explained.

"I need to find out why certain players struggled at different times in the season. Hopefully I will get the information that will enable them to perform better."

In the meantime Sunday's FA Cup banana skin game against Wigan gives Hughes and his 'new' players a breather from their league struggles.

"It’s definitely an opportunity for us. The fact it is not a Premier League game gives us a different focus. 

"There isn’t that anxiety to maintain our league status.

"It’s a one-off game we want to win, and it's all about getting a positive reaction and result.

"It's not the easiest situation, but we will give it our best shot and see where we can take the club," he added.