Shane Long not for sale: Southampton issue hands off warning to Liverpool
Long was linked with a move to Anfield in recent days, but a report in the Sunday World at the weekend confirmed that Southampton had no interest in off-loading the striker they signed from Hull for £12m in the summer of 2014.
In addition, Saints boss Ronald Koeman has made it clear that he is keen to keep his squad intact this month and will not consider any sale in the final two weeks of the transfer window.
Long has yet to comment on the interest being shown in him by Liverpool, but he is starting Premier League matches on a regular basis once again and has played a central role in convincing wins for Southampton in their last two matches.
A move to Liverpool would represent a risk for Long as he pushes to secure a starting spot in the Republic of Ireland’s Euro 2016 line-up, as he may well have a better chance to securing regular football if he was to remain at Southampton over the next few weeks.
Yet the lure of Liverpool may be tempting to the Irishman, if the Reds were to come back with a more lucrative offer that tempts Southampton to change their stance and sell.
The future of Southampton striker Graziano Pelle is a little less clear, as it appears that the club would consider selling the Italian star if the right offer was received, with Saints chairman Ralph Krueger offering up these words on his club’s plans over the next few weeks.
“Players coming in and out of here in the last two weeks of the transfer window is not in the plan,” he stated. “I would never say never on either direction because it’s the nature of the sport; you don’t know what opportunities present themselves.
“At the moment we are pleased with the depth and Ronald has shown we have different line-ups. Ideally would be to keep all those names in the line-up.”
