Speculation has been rife that �9m-rated Bridge would be moving, with Liverpool thought to have edged ahead of Newcastle for the signature of the 21-year-old left-back.

That speculation increased last week with the Saints reported to be poised to sign Wolves left-back Lee Naylor, with striker Kevin Davies going in the opposite direction to link up with former boss Dave Jones at Molineux.

Both clubs worked to distance themselves from the story, but Strachan finds himself in a familiar position for Southampton managers - batting down speculation and battling off interest in the club's best players.

Reaching back to the days of Ron Davies and Terry Paine, previous Southampton managers have met with varying degrees of success in holding on to the likes of Steve Williams, Alan Shearer, Danny and Rodney Wallace, Matthew Le Tissier, Hassan Kachloul and Dean Richards

Southampton have finished comfortably mid-table in the last two seasons, and in their new 32,000 capacity St Mary's Stadium they harbour ambitions to move among the Premiership's elite.

But they are still seen as a smaller club, with their prize assets ripe to be plucked.

The increased financial clout provided by St Mary's puts Strachan in a priviliged position that few other Southampton managers enjoyed at the homely 15,000-capacity Dell.

Strachan said: "We don't have to sell. In fact, we are still looking to bring in one or two more players.

Strachan said: "It is like the Dean Richards' sale, it will only happen of the player wants to go - and Wayne does not want to go.

"He is happy with us. He wants to be here and play here and Wayne Bridge will be here for as long as he wants to be."

"It is unfair to invent these things, and it is a problem for him and it upsets him.

"He phoned me three hours after England had gone out of the World Cup to find out when he was wanted back.

"I spoke to him about the training and how he was feeling and the idea of him going did not even get a mention.

"He is having a break now and will rejoin us in time for our pre-season tour to Sweden, and we are not selling him."

Having recently bought a new house in the Hampshire countryside, Bridge seems currently content at his home-town club, and has continually stressed his loyalty to Southampton.

A place in the World Cup squad has shown Bridge that playing for a club of Southampton's size is not a barrier to his international ambitions.

But if he continues to lag behind Ashley Cole in the England pecking order, Bridge may excused for wondering if coach Sven-Goran Eriksson prefers players with clubs who are challenging for honours and providing a testing environment on a consistent basis.