Southampton have reportedly held talks with former QPR, Swansea and Leicester manager Paulo Sousa about replacing beleaguered Mark Hughes.
Sousa is understood to have been in the stands as the Saints were beaten 3-2 by fellow Premier League strugglers Fulham at Craven Cottage.
It raises the possibility that the Portuguese coach could replace Hughes, who is under intense pressure after winning just three of his 22 games in charge of Southampton.
Sousa's nomadic managerial career - eight clubs in six countries - most recently saw him take charge of Tianjin Quanjian in the Chinese Super League.
According to The Times, Southampton owner, Chinese businessman Gao Jisheng, became aware of Sousa and his work during his time in the Far East.
He is leading the current hunt for Hughes' replacement, after vice-chairman Les Reed and technical director Martin Hunter were sacked earlier this month following the unimpressive managerial reigns of Hughes and his predecessor, Mauricio Pellegrino.
Hughes remains in charge following Southampton's Carabao Cup exit on penalties at the hands of Leicester - an 11th successive winless match in all competitions.
He could well be sacked if the Saints are beaten by Manchester United on Saturday, ending an eight-month spell in which he did save them from Premier League relegation, but has largely failed to improve results or performances. Southampton have scored five goals in their last 10 matches.
Sousa began his managerial career in English football with QPR, Swansea and Leicester, before beginning a tour of Europe with Videoton in Hungary and Maccabi Tel-Aviv in Israel.
It was with Tel-Aviv that he began to find success as a coach, wining the national league, before moving to Basle and leading them to the 2015 Swiss championship.
He then had two years in charge of Fiorentina - currently his longest stint as boss of any club - before a 12-month spell in China.
Sousa's playing career was far more glittering - he won the Champions League in successive seasons, 1996 with Juventus and 1997 at Borussia Dortmund, along with a full range of Italian domestic trophies in Turin.
unclelim
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Southampton have really stuffed up. I remember only a few years ago and everyone was declaring them to be among the best, if not the best, run club in the league. Now they've joined the clubs who are constantly floating around the bottom and firing their managers. Shame what's become of them
birthday
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Every damn new manager just get appointed just before our game. They always have new manager bounce against us.
Christening
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Marco Silva, Nuno, Mourinho and now Paulo Sousa. 20% of Premier League managers will be portuguese.
lifetimes
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Was a class act as a player. Unbelievable passing ability.
yourself
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The great "Pards" will be waiting for the 'phone to ring.
hoverday
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Poisoned chalice, whoever takes this on gets fired at the end of the season.
pygmy
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Mark - I will never be in another relegation battle again - Hughes... what a joke.
Ericssonio
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Replace one failure with another... only in football
Allen2034
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Sell your best players and thats the result
society
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I don't know why they went for Hughes in the first place he is a terrible manager
lakerhala
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One failed manager out. Another one in.
Ironkings
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They should have gone with Potter! He got a tiny Swedish club promoted to the top flight and won a trophy! What more does a promising young English manager have to do to get a Premier League job???? Poch, Hughes and Pellegrino had all done less than that when given a chance!
citizenson
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Three year contract signed in summer, ker-ching. Absolute madness to offer such a deal.
snobbish
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Mark Hughes and his assistant Mark Bowen killed Stoke, hopefully Southampton can get rid quickly and get over his reign, otherwise they'll do the same for them.
sevilla
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Poor mark Hughes hes been sacked more times than hes been employed
Brightons
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Hopefully Mark Hughes is the last of the merry go round bunch of managers to manage a team in the PL. No more Pardrew, Allardyce, Pulis!