Report: Southampton seriously considered appointing Ruben Selles instead of Jesse Marsch

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Southampton are set to appoint Jesse Marsch as their manager but gave serious consideration to Ruben Selles.

That’s according to The Telegraph, who claim that Marsch is closing in on the Southampton job after positive talks.

Southampton decided to sack Nathan Jones on Sunday, bringing an end to his rather brief spell in charge of the Saints.

The Saints are trying to get a deal done quickly for Marsch, who has been on Southampton’s radar for a while now.

Marsch became available last week as Leeds United decided to sack the American after a difficult run of form.

It looks like this deal will be done very soon but Southampton did actually have another idea in mind.

It’s stated that Southampton gave serious consideration to appointing Ruben Selles as manager and bringing in an experienced coach to work with him.

Selles currently serves as interim manager at Southampton and was seemingly a major contender alongside Marsch in the race for the Saints job.

Who is Southampton’s Ruben Selles?

Selles, 39, is relative unknown in Premier League circles unless you’re a Southampton fan.

The Spanish coach has enjoyed a long stint in coaching though and actually started out as a fitness coach at Aris Thessaloniki and Villarreal’s youth.

Selles then served as an assistant coach under two different managers at Shinnik Yaroslav in Russia, four managers back at Aris and four managers at Neftchi Baku in Azerbaijan.

Either Selles has been able to earn the respect of multiple managers or has received major faith from major decision makers.

Selles turned his hand to an analysis role with Norwegian outfit Stromsgodset in 2015 but a swift return to Azerbaijan with Qarabag materialised.

Selles moved on to Aarhus in an assistant manager position before managing Valencia’s Under-18’s, only to continue his nomadic career with a move to assist Jess Thorup at Copenhagen.

Selles headed to Southampton last summer and has now had two caretaker spells in charge of the club.

Maybe two two spells in Danish football put him on the radar of Rasmus Ankersen, the current director of football at Southampton.

Selles is a young coach with a burgeoning reputation and whilst Southampton have overlooked him twice now, a spell in management – whether on the South Coast or elsewhere – surely awaits.