Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl has revealed what he learned from Danny Ings and Jannik Vestergaard's contract saga this summer.

Both players were determined to run down their contract with Saints as they entered their final year at St. Mary's.

Ings and Vestergaard were sold to Aston Villa and Leicester City, respectively, and Hasenhuttl admits players have the power when their contract are expiring.

When asked what he learned about modern-day players in dealing with the scenario, Hasenhuttl told the Daily Echo: "One thing that is for sure, when players are going into the last one or two years in the contract, the power moves to the players and away from the clubs.

"This is because of the rule we have since Bosman that players at the end of the contract are completely free.

"This is a horrible situation for a lot of clubs in football and it leads us to this situation we are in at the moment, where there are a lot of clubs struggling.

"We are not the only club who tries to extend contracts from players. They one time cost a lot of money and then don't want to stay with you anymore.

"You have to add the wages to the transfer fee you paid for them and this is the total amount of money that you have spent for this player.

"For us it is very important that we get something for players when they are coming in the last year. That leads us to the situation we have been in.

"That doesn't mean that we want to sell under the price we have because we developed these players, we make them better, they are on maybe some of the best levels of their careers like Ingsy at the moment. He was never that good like he has been with us.

"Yes, it is also understandable for the player that they want to go somewhere else and make more money or whatever and take this instead of being a legend in this club forever.

"This is modern football, this is how it changed. We as managers have to accept it and find alternatives. This is our goal."