Baxter believes Exeter can bring the best out of former Saints prop Painter

The 24-year-old has joined the Chiefs with immediate effect, ending his stay at Saints, who have signed Newcastle Falcons tighthead prop Trevor Davison as a replacement.

Painter made 84 appearances for Saints after emerging from the club's Academy.

But he had found game time hard to come by, with Paul Hill and former Exeter man Alfie Petch getting the majority of minutes.

Baxter is confident Painter will be a big asset for Exeter and he feels the change will do the player good.

“He’s got a bit of experience, probably without playing the game time he would have liked,” Baxter said.

“At the same time, he’s 24, he’s a big guy and his super-strength is scrummaging. There is no mystery in the fact that we want to add something in that area.

"Obviously, there are things he needs to work on, but there are things we can help him with as well.

“It’s the same with every player as they change clubs. Sometimes that new challenge can be good for them, so I think he will fit in very well and look forward to getting him down here and cracking on with things.”

Painter will look to play a part in helping Exeter finish in the Gallagher Premiership top four this season.

And he will fill a void left by Harry Williams, who has suffered a significant knee injury.

“Knowing that Harry would be leaving at the end of the season, we’ve being keeping a close eye on the tight-head market,” said Baxter.

“Obviously, we’ve got the likes of Marcus Street, Patrick Schickerling and Josh Iosefa-Scott already here, but we had already started talking to Ehren and Northampton about him potentially joining earlier than the start of next season.

“That kind of lined-up with plans Northampton had as well, so we started the procedure before Harry got injured.

"Now that he has picked up that injury, it works doubly well for us to get him here as soon as possible.

"If everything goes to plan, he should be with us at the end of this week and then we’ll get him registered and available for the remainder of the season.”