Leeds United manager Terry Venables said today he is "very confident" that he can keep defender Rio Ferdinand at the club.
Venables, asked how confident he was that he could persuade Ferdinand to stay, told an Elland Road press conference : "I'm very confident. I've not spoken to him yet but when I do I will try to point out why he should stay."
"I think where we can reach him is that basically he loves to play football," he added.
Leeds failed to qualify for the Champions League last season and chairman Peter Ridsdale has made it clear that a £15 million profit must be made on transfers this summer.
Venables admitted that with Leeds needing to bring money in he may not be able to hold on to all his best players.
"We know that if we could we'd like to keep them all but the reality is we have to deal with certain situations.
"Peter has mentioned there is £15 million to be found and I took the job on that understanding. We will do whatever we can to satisfy that side of it."
PA