The former England defender is back behind his desk and attempting to push through his summer spending plans with his club having already having made significant progress in their pursuit of Paris St Germain midfielder Didier Digard.

However, there is much work to be done before the Teessiders launch the new Barclays Premier League season with Tottenham's visit to the Riverside Stadium before they head for Liverpool.

Spurs have wasted little time in strengthening their squad with manager Juande Ramos having already invested a total of around £21million in Luka Modric and Giovani dos Santos.

But Southgate knows only too well that big spending does not guarantee results.

He said: "We are obviously looking to strengthen our squad before then, while Spurs have already spent big.

"But they did that last season and still only finished a couple of places ahead of us, so spending a lot of money doesn't necessarily guarantee success.

"Big new signings can be exciting, but I want players who can make a long-term impact, not just a few early headlines."

The Tottenham game will bring local boy Jonathan Woodgate back to the Riverside for the first time since his £8million departure for north London in January.

Just what kind of reception he will get remains to be seen, but Southgate for one is already looking forward to the new season.

He said: "I'm definitely excited about it now I have taken a look at the first games.

"In Tottenham and Liverpool, we are playing two of the best footballing teams in the country in our opening two games.

"They are matches our fans can really look forward to and I'm already looking forward to it. It's nice to be at home first time out.

"I'm sure Jonathan will be pleased to get it out of the way early on, though I'm really not sure how the fans will react to him.

"His first return certainly adds extra spice to it, but all of our games against Tottenham have been good, entertaining matches in recent years, so it has all the makings of great first game."