City have told any predators eyeing Nahki Wells and James Hanson: We’ll only listen to silly money.

Both strikers came to prominence during the promotion campaign – with 26-goal top scorer Wells, in particular, attracting interested glances from rival clubs.

Burnley are known admirers as they look for a replacement for Hull-bound Charlie Austin. Bournemouth and Huddersfield are among others keeping tabs on the Bermudian.

But joint-chairman Mark Lawn insists that City’s new-found financial stability puts them in a strong position to resist any bids.

Lawn said: “They are prize jewels and we wouldn’t want to lose them.

“Financially we don’t need to sell. We’ve got them on contracts that we can afford so it’s not going to kill us to keep them here.

“If we get a stupid offer, then don’t get me wrong we’d certainly have to look at it. But it would have to be one where Phil (Parkinson) is happy to turn round and say ‘I can replace him’.

“If we were to let either one of them go, we’d have to get enough money to be able to replace them. That’s up to Phil, not me, and he would have to tell me what he wants.

“But everyone knows our position. That’s why all the usual tyre kickers haven’t bothered coming along because they know we’d give them short shrift.”

Hanson has one more year left on the long-term contract he signed after his first season as a pro. Wells penned a new deal in September, although Lawn revealed he could have been sold if the last campaign had not gone to plan.

He added: “Nahki was in our mind when we took the risk (with the budget) last year. If it hadn’t worked out by January, then we would look to move him on.

“But to be fair, it did go so well so we didn’t have to do that.

“Nahki’s tied down for two years after this and James has still got one more. We’ll be talking to him at some stage but there’s no rush.

“They are both level-headed about it. They realise that Phil has developed them and can see they’ve come on a lot.

“We’ve managed to keep the team together and I get the impression from both Nahki and James that they want to come in next year and improve even more under this coaching staff.

“They are still quite young and on that level where they can improve a hell of a lot. Let’s hope we can get that out of them.”

City have tied up Andrew Davies and skipper Gary Jones and talks continue with out-of-contract players such as Nathan Doyle. But with a week to go until pre-season, they have not made a signing.

Lawn added: “It’s the first time we’ve gone through a close season where we’re only looking at bringing in three or four people, maybe five at an outset if anyone else goes.

“The majority of the squad’s still here and that’s nice for a change. We want to keep them as well, which is good, because it’s usually a case of toing and froing.”