He stated: "It's a decision speaking to the Sporting Director and speaking to the Chairman and then we all three decided.
"When you take our central midfield, we have Adam Wharton, we have Will Hughes, we have Jefferson Lerma, we have Cheick Doucoure coming back for the next season, we have David Ozoh, we have Naouirou Ahamada, so we have six players for two positions.
"It's nothing to do with his individual quality, he's a great player, he's a fantastic guy, a really nice guy, so it's nice to have him here, but we can't sign seven central midfielders if we play with two.
"Some decisions are not to say we don't believe in the quality of the player, it's just we have to see the whole squad and what's necessary and what's important for the team."