How about this for a conspiracy theory...the Saints board leak stories of bids for their players and then issue a denial. Hey presto, they've just inflated the asking price of all our top players.
Nah, perhaps not...
@bigadamsport: Waiting for a statement from #saintsfc director Les Reed ahead of Pochettino's interview - don't know what it's about but 'not negative'
Admittedly, agents wouldn't be as overt about their motives as suggested by my hypothetical conversation but don't they try and 'engineer' transfer opportunities all the time as that's what they do for a living at the end of the day?