Southampton have sent Liverpool a clear message over their ongoing pursuit of Belgium international Romeo Lavia.
The Reds had a bid of around £41million for the 19-year-old rejected last week
Southampton, value Lavia at £50m and are steadfast refusing to budge
A number of Saints players are being courted by top-flight clubs, with a £32m deal agreed with Newcastle United for full-back Tino Livramento
a bid of £30m from West Ham United for James Ward-Prowse was turned down.
Southampton chief executive Phil Parsons has explained why his club have no intention of allowing the player to leave on the cheap.
Parsons
"We are looking at all options, but let's be realistic,"
"We've got 30-plus players and we don't need 30-plus players. We're actually in a position to make sure the finances balance out quite well and you do get hit substantially being relegated.
"We can trim the squad, we can sell assets if we want to. We won't be selling assets on the cheap. And that's why we stood firm on a few.
“We will develop a lot of players over the coming years and there will be players who gone on to join top-four clubs but we won't be doing it at a cheap rate, we will be doing it at the going rate. If clubs want to place offers with us, we will look at them. We won't be saying just yes to any offer through the door.
“Southampton is a great club and if you do well for Southampton and deserve a move, maybe we'll look at it but let's focus on Southampton first and doing well and then we'll talk about other clubs second.”
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