Southampton chairman Ralph Krueger has stated today that the club has no intention of selling English striker Jay Rodriguez and French midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin soon.
Krueger made the statement in light of rumours on Monday that both players were close to joining Premier League rivals Tottenham Hotspur, managed by former Southampton manager Mauricio Pochettino.
He stated that ”They are part of the core that we have decided to keep at Southampton. In and around Jay, Morgan and the rest of our core players, we’re excited to continue to build forward.”
He also said the recent exit of five first team players happened in the best interest of the club, as it had no intention of selling them but eventually had to let them go after interested clubs met ”set premiums” placed on the players.
Schneiderlin, who was part of France’s squad to the 2014 World Cup, was also linked with a move to Arsenal while Rodriguez finished last season as the club’s top scorer despite his season ending in April with an injury.
Teenage left-back Luke Shaw joined Manchester United for £32m earlier in July while teenage right-back Calum Chambers joined Arsenal for £16m on Monday.
The trio of Adam Lallana, Rickie Lambert and Dejan Lovren were also sold to Liverpool for a total of £49m, while the club has brought in striker Graiziano Pelle and midfielder Dusan Tadic and is looking to add more players before the season kicks off in mid-August.