If there are Dundee United players planning to move on from Tannadice in the summer, manager Peter Houston insists they haven’t told him.
The Tangerines boss has acknowledged, however, that it would not come as a shock if some of them did make a career change at the end of the season.
Last season Morgaro Gomis, Prince Buaben and Craig Conway all gave Houston plenty of notice that they would be seeking to find a club in England, and that’s exactly what they did when their contracts ran down.
David Goodwillie also headed south to Blackburn for a seven-figure fee on the back of an impressive season for United.
Houston and his predecessor Craig Levein have sold the club to potential United signings on the basis that they could help improve their careers. Nothing has changed in that regard, and others are likely to cross the border in the future.
Goalkeeper Dusan Pernis, Scott Robertson, Garry Kenneth and Paul Dixon are all out of contract next year and have so far not signed extended deals to stay at Tannadice.
Houston isn’t fazed by the possibility that members of his team may want to play themselves into a move elsewhere next summer.
He pointed out: ”We have been speaking to some players about new contracts but we haven’t been told for definite that anyone wants to leave.
”It’s still very early days we’re only in October and the chairman is dealing with things.
”I would never hold anyone back. It wouldn’t surprise me if some boys do want to move on at the end of the season that’s the way it is in football.
”We bring players to this club with a view to letting them improve and hopefully go on to better themselves. That’s what we tell players when we bring them to Tannadice. We want people who are ambitious.
”It has worked for players in the past and I don’t have a problem with it.”