[ad_pod ]This article is part of Football FanCast's Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news...A Q&A was held at Southampton's Staplewood training base on Tuesday evening for those supporters who attended every home and away match during the 2018/19 season, with director of football operations Ross Wilson asked whether Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Nathan Redmond have been offered new contracts.

What's the word, then?

Well, despite difficult starts to their careers with the south coast outfit – Hojbjerg struggled to nail down a regular starting XI spot and Redmond was even booed by supporters on occasions for his inconsistent performances – they have now become two key men in the side.

The former is the captain and the latter was in brilliant form after manager Ralph Hasenhuttl arrived, scoring six goals and providing a further four assists in the Premier League to help him work his way back into the England squad as a result.

The duo have less than two years remaining on their deals at St Mary's however, and Wilson was asked by one supporter – who posted the response on Twitter – whether they had been offered a new one.

Coy response from club

It is certainly interesting – and perhaps not surprising – that they admitted that there has been interest in the pair from other teams.

Southampton's new man Moussa Djenepo divides opinion amongst fans in the video below...

That proves just how much they have come on in the past year or so, and it will be good for supporters to see that the hierarchy want to keep them.

However, the fact that Wilson wouldn't confirm whether they have actually been offered new deals or not may be telling, with both in a strong position when it comes to wage demands.

Southampton certainly shouldn't waste any time in tying Hojbjerg and Redmond down if they can. Perhaps inserting a release clause into their contract to ensure they aren't sold for less than their value in the future could work, or tell them they will be able to leave for a bigger club in one or two years' time as long as the price is right.

Following two successive relegation battles, you also couldn't blame the duo for wanting to see how the club does under their Austrian manager next season before committing, so a strong start to the campaign could be all-important in that regard.