Southampton may struggle to keep their core group of players at St Mary’s after being knocked out of the Championship play-offs, denying them a chance of Premier League promotion.

Regardless of how people feel about Tonda Eckert’s side’s tactics during their phenomenal undefeated run in the second part of the season, which propelled them into the play-offs, the Southampton squad’s depth cannot be overstated.

Last summer, the Saints made superb use of their Premier League parachute payments, retaining Taylor Harwood-Bellis and Shea Charles while also investing money on brilliant acquisitions such as Leo Scienza, Finn Azaz, and Casper Jander, to mention a few.

However, following a good season, there will surely be interest in those players from top-tier leagues.

Hull City and Coventry City have been linked to Harwood-Bellis, as have Leeds United with Charles and Scienza. Jander is drawing interest from Bundesliga club Stuttgart.

Dragan Solak describes Southampton’s position on sales this summer.

It will be a miracle if Southampton can maintain all of their top performers from last season at St Mary’s this summer, but its owner, Dragan Solak, is eager to keep as many as possible.

Solak told the Daily Echo that he wants to keep early-career players at Southampton and will not rush to move them.We’ll have to see who comes for who, because some of our players are still in the early stages of their contracts,” he explained. “We don’t want to talk about them, so if anyone does, they would really have to wake me up with something incredible.”If I can buy half a team for the money, we’ll talk. But we have a couple of guys who are nearing the end of their contracts.

Indeed, those who thrived in their maiden seasons at Southampton, such as Scienza, Jander, Azaz, and Tom Fellows, still have three years left on their contracts, so Dragan Solak understands that he has all the cards when it comes to a sale.

The Serbian admits that Charles and Harwood-Bellis, who have two years left on their contracts after three seasons at the club, may get bids that the owner must reject.Some of them are so good that we may receive offers, and some may claim that they can become an England international if they play for the appropriate club,” he continued.Then,

a Premier League team comes to them and says, ‘We want you to play in the top division’ and gives them triple or quadruple their wage.I look at this person and think, ‘Okay, he gave us a few great years, was always at his best, and gave his all on the field and for the club.’ If the transaction benefits his career,

I understand and support it. However, we aim to make a good financial decision.If a club comes and says, ‘We truly love this guy, and he should play in the Premier League,’ I would answer, ‘Show me how much you love them.’ If they bring a good business to the club and the affection is at the level I believe is reasonable, they can play in the Premier League.”

Southampton should be in an excellent position to reinvest if they lose some of their stars this summer.