Schneiderlin never meant Saints disrespect

Several key players have departed St Mary's since the end of last season, with the likes of Adam Lallana, Dejan Lovren, Rickie Lambert and Luke Shaw moving on to pastures new.

France international Schneiderlin was heavily linked with a switch to Premier League rivals Tottenham and the 24-year-old expressed his desire to join the exodus from the south-coast club.

However, Southampton refused to sanction his sale and Schneiderlin has played a key role in the club's impressive start under head coach Ronald Koeman, scoring a brace in the 3-1 triumph over West Ham and bagging another in the 4-0 rout of Newcastle United last Saturday.

Schneiderlin has now stated that he never intended to cause friction at Southampton and is keen to repay the faith the club have shown in him.

"I never wanted to disrespect anyone at the club," he said. "Sometimes in life, you need to make choices, and everyone was worried when we lost so many players.

"But the club showed, by buying some good players and bringing in a top manager, that they still have ambitions, and that is really what I was asking for.

"I'm very happy here, the club has been very good to me for seven years now and I want to pay them back."