Martin O’Neill insists Aston Villa have no plans to sell John Carew this summer.
The giant Norway international has been linked with a move away from Villa Park amid reported interest from Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur.
However O’Neill, who last week lost Gareth Barry to City, is loath to lose another key component of his team.
“We want John to stay at the club – he’s signed for a couple of years and we want him to stick around," said O'Neill.
“He’s very popular with the crowd and that helps his confidence. And his goal-scoring ratio is now up to where it should be.
“We want him to stay here, it’s as simple as that.”
The 29-year-old finished Villa’s joint top scorer with 15 goals last season, while Carew’s alleged visit to a lap-dancing club on the eve of a Uefa Cup tie further endeared him to the club’s support, if not O’Neill, who fined the player £10,000 for his misdemeanour.
“That incident does seem to have made him a bit of a cult figure with the fans," added O'Neill.
“But John had a great season considering he missed those three months.
“For him to come back from his bad back the way he did was fantastic. I couldn’t be more pleased with him, he’s done terrifically well for us.”