Bilel Mohsni: Did get his fourth goal in four games from the back Tuesday
Shrimpers Chief Executive has revealed that though there was plenty of interest in the club's influential centre-back come scoring sensation, five for the season after 21 appearances, four in the last four games, they never wanted to sell as the January transfer window came to a close last Monday.
The French Tunisian is on contract until the summer of 2012, and with the side only a couple of point off the play-off places
Brady told www.echo-news.co.uk: "There were a number of parties interested in signing Bilel and we received offers for him which were turned down. Paul Sturrock sees him as a key part of the second half of the season and we were keen to once again back the manager's judgement. We worked hard to ensure that we kept hold of our key assets and everyone is happy with the outcome."
Premier League Blackpool and Wolverhampton Wanderers were certainly sniffing around, Wolves seeing Bilel in action when he played them at Molineux in the Carling Cup last August.
While Sheffield United boss Micky Adams would have been aware of him when at Port Vale and was seen at Barnet on Saturday.
What happened to Newcastle then, they've certainly got the dosh!
Of course, this all places the Shrimpers boardroom in a good light, would they really turn down the chance of over half a million, rumours of non-payment to staff are floating around again.
Maybe the top clubs just didn't feel he was quite the finished article yet and are willing to wait until the end of the season, then, whatever division Southend find themselves in, the Bilel Mohsni saga will probably be ready to continue.