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

highfield49 added 18:12 - Jun 30 TeamCortese, believe me please I'm not sniping at you but if Ake is really that good why aren't any of the top six interested at a bargain £20 million? Agreed, he has potential but if Chelsea want to ship him out they must be thinking he is another Romeu or Bertrand who they will look at again if he plays above his current potential.
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TeamCortese added 07:25 - Jul 1 The reason why the top 6 clubs don’t want him is because they have enough quality centre backs. Another thing is (unlike us) they rarely sell to their immediate rivals. The last time that happened was when Wenger sold RVP to Man Utd. He nearly scored against Arsenal in his first match back at the Emirates and post-match conference Wenger said he would never do such a deal again. Outside the Top 6 Ake is a very, very good centre-back. He’s only 22 and is by no means the finished article. He’s the kind of player that we could develop and sell off for 40 odd million a few years later. Another thing is if he’s worse than Yoshi and Stephens then why haven’t the Top 6 clubs gone in for the pair? I’m not trying to be snide here. I’m just using your same logic earlier. Anyway we must move on. I’m interested to see how good this Jan Bednarek is. I’m really hoping his transfer wasn’t just based off price alone—do I need to mention Forren. Apparently he got sent off at the U21s. Not a good sign :S He doesn’t have EPL experience and is only 1-year younger than Ake.

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bstokesaint added 08:12 - Jul 1 I spoke to a Bournemouth fan yesterday. He thought it was a lot of money for the boy Ake. As for Defoe, a bit like the Wishire signing he was totally uninspired. Another 'big name' on big wages coming in and stifling development. Also as Highfield correctly points out Bournemouth are a million miles behind us. Their focus is still on survival. Like last season clubs who strive for safety by the likes of Defoe to keep them up. Clubs like Spurs hold onto Defoe in his prime because they want to win things. Stop panicking people and see what the summer holds.

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aceofthebase added 09:02 - Jul 1 Forget about the players I want a manager that tells jokes has a water squirting rose on his lapel and really amuses me, that's the way to win games.
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SaintBrock added 11:39 - Jul 1 On balance we probably will not sell anybody of significance having just appointed a new manager who preaches togetherness. Unless he is a Puel-like puppet this guy doesn't seem to be the sort who likes having his strings pulled, so selling half the team before he has had a chance to work with them would strike most as lunacy. For one we must give LR the benefit of the doubt.

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Big_T added 21:03 - Jul 2 we did spot deli Ali ! Which is why when mopo went to spurs he immediately signed him after saying at saints that he wouldn't fit his style of play at Southampton. Harry Kane signed for arsenal when he was 8 but was let go after 1 year, Watford academy gave him a place until three months later spurs signed him, and let's face it up until two years ago it looked like arsenal had made the right choice, he was out on loan at loads of clubs and for most was not good. Even mopo put him in as a last gasp filler. Our signing over the last seven years have a hit rate of nearly 60% The league average is nearer 40% which is why so many clubs are emulating our scouting and monitoring setup.

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