Motherwell boss Stuart Kettlewell says Kevin van Veen will only leave the club in the summer if they receive a “life-changing” fee.
Kettlewell says he and the Dutch striker are comfortable with the situation, and would be “amazed” if a Scottish club could come up with money that would tempt either party.
But he says if any serious offer comes in for the 25-goal striker, or any other player, they will hear about it directly from him.
He said: “I’ve had many conversations with Kevin on a personal level, manager to striker, all those different things, and the one thing that we both agree on is that he’s extremely happy here, the club is really happy with him, the supporters love him. I love working with him on a daily basis.
“But there always comes a cross-point where if somebody puts a ridiculous offer in front of you, sometimes you’re in a situation where the club have to profit from it.
“I would be safe to say it has been a challenging year for the club, financially; we don’t want to get rid of the player, but sometimes an offer can come forward that you can’t say ‘no’ to.
“The one thing I do know is the only way Kevin would ever be happy about leaving this club is if he felt it was some sort of offer that would be life-changing for Motherwell.
“If it’s not, then Kevin van Veen will remain a Motherwell player.
“I think we’re all very comfortable, in our own skin, that’s how that situation sits.”
Kettlewell added: “We’ve never spoken about anything, but I would be amazed if a club in Scotland could come up with the money that we would be thinking about for Kevin van Veen.
“Again, I’m not wishing Kevin’s career away from here, and this is where he’s so categoric – as it stands, unless somebody was able to put life-changing money down in front of Motherwell and Kevin van Veen, in both parties, then he will remain a Motherwell player.
“I would be amazed if anybody in Scotland could pay that kind of money.
“There has not been anything [contact] in this last spell. I’ve heard a lot of speculation and different things, but Kevin van Veen or any player are 100 per cent aware of any situations, whether it’s contact directly to the club, to myself, any conversations.
“If that isn’t made known to you by the powers that be at the club I think you create a real problem for yourselves.
“It’s never to disrupt them, it’s always the opposite. I’m always very transparent with those situations.
“If there’s something official at the football club the player will hear about it directly from myself.”
Meanwhile, Kettlewell hopes his star takes the PFA Scotland Premiership Player of the Year award on Sunday.
Van Veen is nominated alongside Celtic trio Callum McGregor, Kyogo and Reo Hatate for the top award.
And Kettlewell said: “It is the players’ award, so it depends on how players think about it.
“To be in the type of company that he’s in just now, it’s an amazing achievement, it really is.
“He’s the first Motherwell player in 10 years that’s been able to do that, which is massive, scoring 25 goals.
“It’s an amazing achievement and he deserves all the attention and the credit that he’s getting it.
“In terms of who wins it, it’s probably a toss of a coin. There has been some real good performances.
“I would love to see him win it, I think I can come up with a number of reasons why I think he does deserve it, but it comes down to the players and how they feel he has been when they’ve crossed paths in games.”
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