Preston North End striker Kevin Davies has claimed that Southampton have been "victims of their own success" this summer.
The Saints have lost the likes of Adam Lallana, Dejan Lovren, Rickie Lambert, Luke Shaw and Calum Chambers, while Morgan Schneiderlin is trying to engineer a move to Tottenham Hotspur.
Davies, who enjoyed two spells at the club, believes that they will struggle to replace the players.
"I think they've been a victim of their own success," he told Sky Sports News. "They created a fantastic squad last season, and it's been a rocky road over the last 10 or 11 years for the Southampton fans, finding themselves going down into League Two and now they've had double promotions and found themselves finishing eighth last season in the Premier League.
"The boat is certainly rocking and I don't think they want to lose any more players. They've lost four or five quality players who will be really be missed. You lose one or two top-quality players, you miss them but to lose four or five of those types of players it's going to be difficult for them.
"They have of course got money in the bank, but when they come to spend it, a lot of the prices will be hiked up as [other teams] know they have £90m or £92m available to spend, so they've still got two or three players to get the squad sorted, I think they've still got a lot of quality there. I think the fans will back them."
Meanwhile, Pablo Osvaldo has joined Inter Milan.
Paul Gorst
