RALPH HASENHUTTL is very confident he will not lose James Ward-Prowse like he did with Danny Ings and Jannik Vestergaard.
Aston Villa had a £25million bid rejected for Saints skipper Ward-Prowse last month.
DREAM TEAM IS BACK! SIGN UP NOW FOR THE 21/22 SEASON WITH £100,000 PRIZE POT UP FOR GRABS
And Tottenham are also reportedly interested in the sought-after Southampton ace.
Star striker Ings left for Villa last month in a £30m deal while defender Vestergaard is finalising a switch to Leicester for £15m.
But the key difference between that pair and Ward-Prowse is they both had only a year left on their Saints contracts, meaning the club risked losing them for free at the end of the season.
Ward-Prowse, 26, meanwhile has four years left on his deal and Hasenhuttl is sure the England man is happy where he is.
The Austrian said: “It is normal that Prowsey is a guy that everyone wants to have but I don’t see a scenario for him not to be with us for the next years.
“He knows he is the captain here, he knows how important he is for our club. He feels good here and we feel good with him.
“He has a four-year contract here so the situation with him is a different one.”
BETTING SPECIAL – GET £60 IN FREE BETS FOR THE NEW PREMIER LEAGUE WITH 888SPORT
Ward-Prowse, who played every single Premier League minute last season, has recovered from a knee injury in time for tomorrow’s (SAT) curtain-raiser at Everton.
Vestergaard was in Leicester yesterday (THURS) undergoing a medical.
Saints will look to recruit a replacement to add to the signings of Romain Perraud, Tino Livramento, Adam Armstrong and Armando Broja.
Hasenhuttl added: “The size of the squad is a much better one than last season. We have more quality depth and more numbers.
“Yes, we lost a few very important players in our club which was an absolute must because two of them only had one year left in the contract.
“You do not let them go without a transfer fee. That would be a disaster for every club.
DREAM TEAM IS BACK! SIGN UP NOW FOR THE 21/22 SEASON WITH £100,000 PRIZE POT UP FOR GRABS
“We had to do these deals and finally we’re happy we made these deals and could replace them with new players and made the squad bigger with players with potential to develop.
“Yes, I’m happy with the job we did in the transfer market so far.
“There’s still one position to do because we lost Jannik now and we know in the centre-back position we know we’re not really super strong in numbers.”
FREE BETS: GET OVER £2,000 IN NEW CUSTOMER DEALS
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
