The 36-year-old, who is spending two weeks of his summer break on a residential course at Lilleshall in pursuit of his UEFA A Licence, will combine his studies with laying the foundations for his recruitment drive.

In an ideal world, he would like to have his new men on board long before the start of pre-season training having seen Jonathan Woodgate and Robert Huth arrive late in last summer's transfer window.

Both he and predecessor Steve McClaren know the perils of trying to assimilate newcomers into the squad after the start of the season, although Southgate knows the probability is that the spending will not start imminently.

He said: "You would like to, but realistically, that's not going to happen. It seems to be there is a period now where people get things done right at this minute, and then everyone goes off on holiday.

"I would think it is unlikely that things are going to happen for us before the middle of June.

"You never know because situations can turn overnight, but lots of people are away now on international duty or they are away on holiday.

"Most clubs, while they are planning, tend to shut things down, so I am not anticipating anything in the next couple of weeks."

Southgate is keeping his cards close to his chest as he plans for the new season, although he will not know exactly what he has to do until he gets an answer from out-of-contract striker Mark Viduka over his future.

The manager, chariman Steve Gibson, chief executive Keith Lamb and £7million team-mate Jonathan Woodgate have all added their weight to the fans' pleas for the 31-year-old to stay in personal telephone conversations over recent days.

Viduka is currently on holiday in Australia before linking up with the national squad for their Asian Cup campaign, and his answer as he considers a range of options will be key to Boro's plans.

Southgate admits he will struggle to find a like-for-like replacement should Viduka decide to leave the Riverside Stadium, and he is understood to have an interest in Arsenal's Jeremie Aliadiere and West Brom's Diomansy Kamara among others.

However, he has not yet given up home of retaining his leading scorer and, having released both Malcolm Christie and Danny Graham this summer, that would allow him to look for a man whose best years are perhaps ahead of him rather than the finished article.

South Korea international Dong-Gook Lee got to grips with the Barclays Premiership towards the end of last season and Southgate expects him to play a much more significant role in the new campaign, although just how big a part that is could depend on Viduka's presence or otherwise.