Southampton have reportedly failed in their efforts to appoint Jesse Marsch as their new head coach.

On Sunday morning, the club's board reacted to the 2-1 defeat at home to 10-men Wolverhampton Wanderers by parting ways with Nathan Jones.

The Welshman had been in charge for just three months, but the Saints now sit four points adrift of safety and are bottom of the Premier League table.

While a number of high-profile names were soon linked with the vacant position at St Mary's, it became apparent that Marsch was their chosen candidate.

The American had only been removed from his position at Leeds United - a relegation rival of Southampton - just over a week ago.

With discussions reportedly scheduled to take place on Wednesday, it was expected that the subsequent announcement of Marsch's arrival would be confirmed in due course.

However, according to talkSPORT, the 49-year-old has rejected the chance of an immediate return to the English top flight.

The report claims that Marsch felt that the opportunity did not represent the right move for him at this time.

Should Marsch have taken over, he would have faced a trip to Stamford Bridge to face Chelsea before an early return to Elland Road to meet his former employers Leeds.

Before the concrete interest with Marsch, former Aston Villa boss Steven Gerrard and ex-Saints boss Mauricio Pochettino were both linked with the position.

Instead, Ruben Selles will now take charge of at least the first of the two upcoming matches, the club said to be comfortable with the Spaniard at the helm.

In his one previous game as caretaker head coach earlier in the season, Southampton recorded a 1-1 draw with Sheffield Wednesday in the EFL Cup before emerging victorious on penalties.

As well as being on the Southampton coaching staff since June 2022, the 39-year-old has previously led Valencia's Under-18 side. body check tags ::