‘We resigned ourselves to Walker-Peters leaving’
Southampton boss Russell Martin has said he was resigned to losing defensive star Kyle Walker-Peters this summer but is now “really relaxed” about his situation and confident he will stay.
Walker-Peters shone last season, making 47 appearances across both the Championship and the FA Cup as Saints were promoted to the Premier League.
“I think he’s going to be here,” Martin said.
“All the interest that was there and the deals that might have happened have pretty much gone, unless someone thinks really late doors that they want Kyle.
“We’ve offered him a new contract so maybe that’ll be another discussion to come. Everyone’s really relaxed about it. It’s a bonus to have him here, to be honest, because I think we all resigned ourselves to him leaving the building.”
The 27-year-old signed for Southampton from Tottenham in 2020 and has made 169 appearances for the club.
This season he has started both Premier League games against Newcastle United and Nottingham Forest.
Chelsea defender Levi Colwill, speaking to Sky Sports:Â “When I scored, I stayed calm because we still had more minutes to play but I stayed calm and helped the boys.
“What I got taught in the academy is you have to fight. We try to get these clean sheets to win and that’s what we did today.
“We had to win. We knew we had to win and that it wasn’t going to be a hard atmosphere but we did it.
“This club deserves to be in the Champions League.”
Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim speaking to BBC Match of the Day:Â “Difficult week. Tough on everybody. But it was good spirits from the players and supporters today. So we finished a terrible and hard season with a win. It’s a good feeling.
“We are trying. We had momentum in other games like this. In the [Europa League] final, we were clearly the strong team. But sometimes we do not score. We had so many chances today. We are improving but we have a lot more to do next season.
“It’s a special club with special people. We already know that. That’s why it’s so hard to disappoint them when we play badly. It was a tough season, but this club is more than this and we will try to do better next season.
“We need to acknowledge it will take time. We are going to suffer a little bit more but better days are coming. We are changing things that you can’t see in the results. You can’t see today but they are there. It’s in the culture. It’s the way we behave and do things every day.”
On Aston Villa’s disallowed goal:Â “I didn’t see the goal. But if it’s not the right decision, the manager should be frustrated.”
On summer transfer plans:Â “You know better than me that we have rules with FFP. We can’t change that in this year. We need to do something in the summer. we have a plan and we are doing that in a while. We also have a preseason to improve the players we have.”
