Southampton do not need to sell best players this season – chairman Krueger

Ralph Krueger insists Southampton will no longer be bullied in the transfer market.

For the past seven seasons Saints have managed to finish higher than the previous campaign, a run made all the more remarkable by the revolving door at St Mary’s.

Southampton’s run of beating the previous year’s finish has ended this season, but there is no end in sight to the speculation surrounding key players.

Virgil van Dijk has been linked with a move this summer (Martin Rickett/PA)

Virgil van Dijk, Ryan Bertrand and Oriol Romeu are the latest targets as vultures circle overhead, although chairman Krueger has pledged this summer will be different to previous years.

Welcomed by a small squad on “extremely weak contracts” upon his appointment during the 2013-14 season, the chairman said they needed to sell astutely and buy even smarter to build.

That money has allowed the club to give the club strength with contracts, meaning they do not plan to sell any of the crown jewels.

Krueger: "We don't need to sell any player for first time since I've been here. Unless football decides it's best, we don't need to"

— Simon Peach (@SimonPeach) May 16, 2017

“Here we sit in the summer of ’17 and we now have 18 top, or above average, Premier League players under three or more year contracts,” Krueger told Press Association Sport

“We actually have 12 players that have more than four years, so 49 months, left on their contract and even a couple with 61 months. So 18 players have more than three years, gives us control over the summer for the first time.

“We will decide if anybody goes and we will decide who comes in, in the best interests of the club. We do not need to sell any player for the first time since I’ve been here.

“I can make that statement and – unless football decides it’s in the best interests – we don’t need to do that. I think that we’re moving into a new era at Southampton Football Club after three-and-a-half years of building this foundation of depth, where we have more than 25 players that can play a Premier League game.

Krueger: "I think we're moving into a new era at Southampton Football Club after three-&-a-half years of building this foundation of depth"

— Simon Peach (@SimonPeach) May 16, 2017

“We now need to consolidate. We’re going to do everything possible to keep the core in place because the one thing that has been lacking here is developing synergies within the squad because of the changes.”

This season’s Europa League campaign, no matter how frustrating, has whetted the collective appetite at St Mary’s, so too the EFL Cup final defeat to Manchester United.

Star turn Van Dijk was absent at Wembley through injury, just as he continues to be now – not that speculation over a summer move has halted.

Asked if Saints could realistically turned down a £60million bid for him this summer, Krueger said: “Can we? Yes. The big thing is here again I want to underline the strategy, less the detail.”