Les Reed has spoken and said that Virgil Van Dijk and Cedric Soares are not for sale. Aaron Sanders hopes that he is a man of his word.

Les reed has given his first interview of the summer, and fans will be hoping his words that our star players are not for sale this year will ring true compared to years gone by.

First team Captain Virgil Van Dijk, was part of a 'tapping up' allegation against Liverpool last month that saw the Reds forced to apologise and drop their interest in the player, who is reported to be valued at over £70m.

Fresh reports today have claimed Soares is of interest to Everton and Tottenham - even Barcelona - however the club will not make the right-back available for transfer this summer.

Vice Chairman Les Reed told Sky Sports News HQ: "None of those players are for sale. I can't make it any plainer than that and that's the way we mean to go forward.

"We built this squad over some time and think we have a strong squad. We will fine-tune it but, other than that, we are looking forward to a very competitive season next year and we plan to go forward on that basis.

"There may be players that go on the basis it is the right thing for them and the club at that given time, but we don't expect that to be wholesale and this is simply doing sound business in the transfer window.

"We track players over years and when the new manager comes in like Mauricio, we take him through that process. He'd done his homework on our squad and we don't believe we need to turn over players every year just to freshen things up.

"We've got a strong squad now and it would be about adding players bringing more value and power. It's not broken so there is no need to bring in players just because of fashion or to get people excited in the transfer market."

Are you confident, that the club will hold onto players such as Van Dijk, Ryan Bertrand and Cedric Soares this year?

Or will it be another kiss of from Reed like years gone by?

Photo: Action Images

pintsizedsaint added 09:01 - Jun 29 We've been here before. Check Twitter out: most other fans simply don't take this news seriously. As I've said before, this summer is the crossroads for SFC. Now Les has done his annual "they're not leaving" interview he will be watched closely. If they do leave, then SFC will never shake the shackles of being seen as a selling club. If they don't, then perhaps that's the tide turning and SFC and it's fans can get on with trying to progress. Let's see come end of the transfer window.

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Dellwizard added 09:45 - Jun 29 The good news is we are under no pressure to sell. The ball is now firmly in our court. This now puts the pressure on clubs like Liverpool and Chelsea to bid silly money for our players. If we do sell it will be for a really silly amount of money. Either way, we are now in a win, win situation.
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petedoors1 added 09:49 - Jun 29 Now Les had said that it looks like they will be going.
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andywelsh added 09:55 - Jun 29 Previously we have said we have no need or no wish to sell our players but with Clyne and Wanyama they only had a year left on their contracts and Schneiderlin had been refused a transfer the previous year. This time we have the majority of the squad on long term contracts so are as in control as you can be given the state of the game today. It appears we are gradually learning from our mistakes. Reasons to be cheerful...

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grumpyoldsaint added 10:24 - Jun 29 In reality any decent player especially ones led by their agent will be able to move if they want.
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saintwizzler added 10:25 - Jun 29 Well put Andy 👍^
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TimSaint added 10:27 - Jun 29 Perhaps a matter of same old same old, as just over a year ago, we got emails from Ronald Koeman - looking forward to the season ahead. That could have been to generate season ticket renewals, but we all know what happened after that. Yes we have most of our important players tied up to long term deals, but the reality is that doing this only guarantees that we get top dollar when they leave - but does not encourage or mean they will stay.

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Sanguin added 10:32 - Jun 29 This year is different, this is the first time that we’re in a position of strength with all of our players on long term contracts. I think we need to hold on to van Dijk for the message it will send. I love Bertrand, especially for his leadership qualities, but I’m more open to selling Bertrand and Soares if we get ridiculous offers and can adequately replace them. It may be that Pellegrino will feel that Targett/McQueen are ready to step into Bertrand’s shoes. If we can sell Soares for a huge price and buy Chambers for cheap then I think that’s good business.

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aceofthebase added 10:44 - Jun 29 Spot on Sanguin.
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lemmsy added 10:53 - Jun 29 I'll suggest this scenario, 3years ago jay Rodriguez was on the edge of the England squad & rumours were Man City wanted to give £25 million for him. If we had sold him there would have been the usual uproar. Now a couple of teams are sniffing around offering £14 million and many are saying get rid of him & take the money.jay rod got a horrific injury & imo will never be the same player. So in hindsight should he have gone ? £70 million for a defender is a world record & although we'd love him to stay another season everybody has a price.

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SaintWick added 12:49 - Jun 29 No where as he said they will not leave the club or be sold!! My car is not for sale, but if some wants to buy a battered mini for £10,000 I am sure we can com to some kind of agreement. Every player has price! Do we have to sell, no. Will the club sell for the right price, yes. Every club in the world would.
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BaselSaint added 13:22 - Jun 29 Of course if someone comes along with a brown envelope so stuffed with cash it wont be refused!; but in the meantime I thought that was a strong statement from Reed and it reflects the remaining time on the contracts and a change in the type of contracts we are entering. I think it was a bold and optimistIc statement. It could also be a massive poker faced bluff but for now Id like to go with it.

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bstokesaint added 13:24 - Jun 29 I hope Les is right. I know people may mock the club's stance, but in all honesty on the couple of times the club has had to dig in, i.e. with Schneiderlin and Wanyama they’ve done their best to hold onto them as long as they could. As a number of posters have said everyone has their price. We’ve lost some quality over the years like Mane, Wanyama and Lallana but oversold on players like Chambers , Lovren and Lambert. And then there’s Schneiderlin, fantastic for us but couldn’t get into the Man U side. We’ve generally always replaced quality. That said the mind boggles on what could be achieved if we maintained what we’ve got and added to it. I know that’s the vision. Just hope it’s more of a reality.

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Jesus_02 added 13:47 - Jun 29 @grumpyoldsaint. While you are quite correct as was illustrated by the Ox deal (10m for a L1 player!) ...However while we kept the squad together people where quite happy to stay. If no key players are sold VVD is very likely to get on with it especially if he knows that he has another decent season he could get a deal at a top club rather than have to go via Liverpool.

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BoondockSaint added 14:00 - Jun 29 He's just reading the same script from last summer. Too bad the interviewer didn't ask him why at this time last year he needed 2 CBs and a couple of strikers to replace the 23 goals Pelle and Mane took with them, yet his only decent signing was Gabbiadini and that was in the winter window and by then the club was almost in survival mode. Also, by making the Saints the Scouse feeder club, he has helped the Scouse climb the table from below us into the Champions League and making Saints slide down lower, costing the Saints millions in Premier/TV bonus money. Does he feel his job is in jeopardy because of this?

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SanMarco added 15:51 - Jun 29 I hope the optimists are right. I can't hold my breath until September so fingers crossed. I think the issues Boondock raises about the incoming talent is perhaps as important - if Les' words are the usual pile of steaming manure then we will need to bring adequate replacements in. One more summer of good out and not so good in and that gap of just a few points to 18th will shrink further.

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SaintPaulVW added 16:16 - Jun 29 Good comments on here. I think we are due another season from both of them but if crazy offers come in (and let's face it Spuds are not going to make them are they) they'll probably go. The long contracts take all the pressure off. However if the offer is high enough they'll go. After all a footballer's career can end in seconds or go off the boil. Hope MP has a settled squad and we will sell a few, Bertrand, J Rod, one of the kids, perhaps even Tadic are my guesses. As always in the Black Box/ Les's copy of Football Manager 17 we trust!

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vanmans added 09:13 - Jun 30 Looks like Bournemouth are winning the transfer battle 2-0 . They have signed defender Nathan Ake and Jermain Defoe both good players who would have fitted into a Saints team. How can they afford players like this when they only get 11,000 gates? Perhaps they have more ambition than us.
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bstokesaint added 12:40 - Jun 30 Van, I don't know about Ake, but at nigh on 35 Jermaine Defoe doesn't really represent the kind of player I'd like to see at St. Mary's!
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TeamCortese added 12:44 - Jun 30 I completely agree with vanmans comment. It's an absolute disgrace that we didn't go in for Ake when we're in dire need of a decent centre-back to pair up with Van Dijk. Could you imagine what that could have done to the dressing room (especially VVD) if we bought Ake in? It would send a serious message to players that we have ambition. Sometime I really don't understand the logic of the people running this football--I really am baffled by this!

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bstokesaint added 12:57 - Jun 30 Cortese, in the club's defence they probably feel that the signings of Fonte, Yoshida, Lovren, Alderweireld and VVD suggest they know what constitutes a decent defender. An "absolute disgrace" seems a little harsh in light of the fact a) You don't know if the club were interested b) You don't know if the club actually rated him c) You don't know who the club are currently interested in. Let us judge the nearer we get to pre season. Players like VVD don't just throw their toys out of the pram as soon as someone the fans like signs for another club. They are sensible enough to see the quality that we have recruited over the past few seasons. I hate it when ambition gets confused with cash.

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bstokesaint added 12:57 - Jun 30 Cortese, in the club's defence they probably feel that the signings of Fonte, Yoshida, Lovren, Alderweireld and VVD suggest they know what constitutes a decent defender. An "absolute disgrace" seems a little harsh in light of the fact a) You don't know if the club were interested b) You don't know if the club actually rated him c) You don't know who the club are currently interested in. Let us judge the nearer we get to pre season. Players like VVD don't just throw their toys out of the pram as soon as someone the fans like signs for another club. They are sensible enough to see the quality that we have recruited over the past few seasons. I hate it when ambition gets confused with cash.

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TeamCortese added 13:33 - Jun 30 bstokesaint: if you really don't believe Ake would have added strength and depth to our backline when for months people like Nick have been criticising Yoshi and Stephens then you're clearly deluded. Who the hell are Bournemouth?! They are nothing compared to us! Ake was playing for Chelsea for crying out loud! The Premier League Champions. If he's good enough to get into their first team then he's most certainly good enough for us. I don't care if has was a fringe player. The manager rated him enough to give him a chance. A lot of people on this forum are too cowardly to point out that we buy too often on the cheap. All this talk about the black-box is complete garbage. If it was so effective why didn't we spot Kante, Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele, Harry Kane, Delli Alli etc. Instead we're putting our trust in JWP and Davis as our centre-mids lol The real question is: How the hell did Bournemouth pip us to one of the most exciting young centre-backs in the league? Especially when we have a reputation of developing players to reach the highest levels. Something is very wrong with our reputation. For me when Roko left last summer that was a very worrying sign and I don't think it's fully shaken off....My oh my when is this takeover taking place? We need to get these bell-ends out of our football before it's too late...

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BoondockSaint added 13:40 - Jun 30 bstokesaint-Unfortunately in football cash and ambition are the same thing. When players and managers use the buzzwords "have ambition" they mean "the team is willing to spend to win" Defoe is 35, but he is the type of player who can come off the bench late in the game and get that one goal you need. If they didn't pay too much, it's a great move for them. As I have mentioned in previous posts: Bournemouth are now us. The last few years we were the young, up and coming team, beating teams below us and bloodying the noses of teams above us. Everyone's "second favourite team". But after the last year or so we are now seen a s the Scouse feeder club. Bournemouth are going to start growing their fan base on the South coast, gaining supporters where we should have in the last few years but have not put enough effort into it.

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highfield49 added 18:00 - Jun 30 Boondock, I stand to be corrected but I believe Defoe was out of contract so probably cost nothing but a massive signing on fee and stupidly high wages. Also with a ground capacity of around 11,000 where exactly are these supporters going to sit to watch the new us? That said, whist I think Ake has potential I don't think he is that great a loss from our perspective in as much he looks vulnerable when he hasn't got quality players around him to cover his mistakes. Yes, he would have been potentially good alongside VVD but I honestly don't think he is any better than Stephens or Yoshi at present.

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