English Premier League side Newcastle United were knocked back in their pursuit of Ghana and Southampton center back Salisu Mohammed in the January transfer window.

Southampton boss Ralph Hussenhuttl has been impressed with his defender but says there is a lot the Ghanaian can improve on.

The Magpies who are being backed by filter riches of Saudi Arabia have been in the market for a quality center back to shore up their leaky defense and help keep them in the Premier League.

He has only missed two games in the top flight this season, with Southampton losing both of them - 3-0 at Arsenal and 4-0 at Aston Villa.

Salisu's form has seen him linked with a move away, with reports in January suggesting that Saints' next opponents, Newcastle United, were interested in signing him for around £40million.

That failed to materialise and Hasenhuttl insisted that there was no way Saints would have let him leave in January, like any of their important players.

Ralph Hasenhuttl insists that there is still plenty of room for improvement for Mohammed Salisu after his form for Southampton this season.

The Ghanaian defender has been one of the standout performers for Saints this season, playing 25 times in the Premier League.

And Hasenhuttl says it is important for Salisu to keep progressing at Southampton, adding that the 22-year-old still has room to improve.

“Keep on going, what he did so far, and develop a little bit his game with the ball in some moments, I think he can still improve," he said.

“When you see him now playing with the ball and when he started for us, I think there’s still a massive step forward for him.

“We are never good enough for playing better with the ball, for being calmer, for finding a better solution. This is an endless story.

“You can always learn, you can always improve. His right foot, his long balls.

“He knows this, he gets told from us, definitely. But the basic and fundamentals for a defender is defending and this is his strongest part, there is no question about it."