.
Every single morning for the last few months, gossip columns around the world have been speculating a mammoth exodus from Southampton Football Club.
On Friday the Premier League side finally spoke out about the transfer rumblings, as Southampton’s Chief Executive Les Reed addressed rumors about the future of Saints’ manager Mauricio Pochettino and many of their stars players, including the likes of England internationals Adam Lallana, Jay Rodriguez and Luke Shaw.
“Reports that some of our players are negotiating transfers are misinformed,” Reed said. “As we stand, there have been no inquiries or offers for any of our players. That is the truth. There is not going to be a fire-sale, we want to keep all of our best players at the club and build for the future.”
That is superb news for Southampton fans, as their team currently sit in eighth spot with three games to go in the season and are close to capturing their record points tally in the Premier League era. Reed also admitted the South Coast club aren’t just content to stay where they are after a rapid ascent from English third-tier to the top 10 of the PL.
Plans are already in place to add to their talented squad, as Saints aim to keep improving under the hugely influential Pochettino.
“No club has been given permission to talk to any of our players,” Reed added. “We have had a great season and we want to improve on it. We want retain the players we’ve got. They are all contracted and we intend to honor those contracts. Any inquiries we get will probably be met with a ‘no, not for sale’. Our intention is to keep this very good team together and build on it by bringing in players to improve on that. We have our targets and these are things we talk about on a daily basis.”
In the past Southampton have had to sell their best players, see Gareth Bale, Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, due to financial reasons but now they are bankrolled by the Swiss Billionaire Liebherr family who are happy to pump money into the club as they continue to churn out exceptional English talent and become one of the most attractive sides to watch in the PL.
The future is bright for the red and white’s.