Benali on why staying at Southampton should be an easy decision

Seeing your team achieve promotion is always amazing - but for them to do it at Wembley in front of 85,000 people made it even more sweet.

It’s great that supporters, young and old, have another joyous day to remember for the rest of their lives.

Although I was pleased for every player in the squad, I was especially delighted for Jack Stephens and Will Smallbone - two of our very own.

To see those two come through the club from a young age and now establish themselves as key players in a promotion-winning season is great.

Southampton fans celebrate promotion to the Premier League at Wembley (Image: Richard Crease)

Quite often, academy graduates can get some unfair flack from sections of supporters. I can vouch for that. It takes a lot to win people over at times and still go about your business.

It’s no secret that Saints face a busy summer. Russell Martin and his staff will get some deserved time off before attention switches to preparing the team for the Premier League.

One of the first things that will need to be ironed out is deciding which loan players they want to keep and who they feel deserves a new contract.

In Che Adams, Stuart Armstrong and Alex McCarthy they have three players who could depart on a free transfer. Russell has already outlined his intention to keep all three.

However, he also admitted that other teams may be able to offer them more than we can. If I was in their shoes, the decision would be easy. I’d stay at Southampton.

Ultimately, that will come down to the club and what they are willing to offer the players at this stage of their career.

The players will also need to decide with their families what the next step looks like for them. They have just played their part in promotion so it will be an interesting one.

How many times over the years have we seen players moving on, going back decades, but the grass isn’t always greener.

Alex McCarthy is out of contract at Southampton this summer (Image: Richard Crease)

Moves may benefit them from a financial perspective, but that doesn’t necessarily make it the best decision for their playing careers.

I know that Southampton has a huge amount to offer. Anyone who is willing to be a part of that can have a wonderful lifestyle here.

Let’s hope that this is just the beginning of something special and that we can continue building on it in the years to come.

If we look at the way Adams has linked up with Adam Armstrong this season for goals and assists, their partnership has certainly worked in the Championship.

You could ask if it can work in the Premier League, which is a different level again. I’m hoping that the way we got promoted this year will breed an element of momentum going into next season.

You want players who want to be at the club, otherwise you are better off parting ways.

Southampton will need to add Premier League quality this summer and we have already seen them linked with a whole host of players.

Adam Lallana is one of them - who is of course another academy graduate. It’s a difficult balance to know how many players you should sign in the summer.

There’s no doubt that we need to bring in players who can help us get to the next level. Signing established players would help that.

But we are also a club who have a history of picking out real gems, who go on to have really successful careers here and beyond.

All of that is still to come. For now, we should all continue to enjoy the success.

Moments like these don’t come around often - so when they do, we should revel in them for as long as possible.