Motherwell boss Stuart Kettlewell insists he has seen nothing to suggest young talent Max Johnston won't be at the club next season.
The 19-year-old defender is out of contract at the end of this term and speculation about him heading for the Fir Park exit door has been rife, with the likes of Italian Serie A side and English Championship outfit Burnley said to be among a host of admirers.
Johnston has been offered a new deal at Fir Park, which he is currently mulling over, and Kettlewell is still holding out hope of keeping one of his prize assets beyond the summer.
Asked if it was realistic that Johnston would remain at Fir Park, Kettlewell said: "There's been nothing to suggest otherwise.
"I've got a really good relationship with Max. He's started every game since I came in and I knew he was a good player before I came in. I had watched him several times playing at Cove during the first part of the season and I watched him round the football club, so I know how good he is - and I am seeing him improve and flourish every time he takes to the pitch.
"There has been an offer made to the player, and I understand that he might want to take time over that, but the simple message to Max was that we need him to go and keep performing how he has been of late, and show how good a player he is.
"Sometimes everything else going on in the background can be a bit of a distraction, but he gets full marks from me with how he has handled himself in this situation.
"I can assure people that we would love to have him here next season."
A whole host of Steelmen stars are out of contract at the end of this season, including midfielders Dean Cornelius and Sean Goss, as well as defenders Dan Casey, Stephen O'Donnell and Paul McGinn, plus striker Jo Efford.
It has been confirmed Casey and Cornelius are among those to be offered new deals and Kettlewell says a lot of hard work is going on behind the scenes to tie down key players.
He said:"We are working really hard on it. There's a lot of players who are performing really well and there's still a lot of players in contract - maybe 15/16 players for next season.
"But in terms of players out of contract, there's a number of players we have spoken to and offers have been put forward.
"The one thing I need to say is we don't have astronomical amounts of money. We don't have a massive budget so I have a picture of what it will be like at the football club moving forward into this next transfer window.
"I'm not saying we are dealing with absolute poverty, but there is obviously a cap on certain aspects in what we can offer as a football club.
"I always speak about the pond you can fish in and there are different levels across the Premiership. I would suggest our financial situation and what we can offer players sits towards the bottom end, and we will need to act accordingly and be as clever as we can.
"We have been incredibly active with the board, the chairman and the head of recruitment in trying to make sure we get the best players and try to keep the best players at this football club."
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