Gudmundsson's contract a sign of what we're trying to achieve - Dyche

The Iceland international winger has committed his future to the club to 2021 ahead of the World Cup, amid speculation linking him with the likes of Leicester City and Newcastle United.

Gudmundsson had a year left on his deal after joining from Charlton in the summer of 2016, and Dyche said: “I’m really pleased. We try and be open with all of our players and their agents about their contractual situations.

“I think we’re doing well with it, we’re respectful in the sense of what we can do as a club.

“He’s had a very strong season. We saw a lot of good things last season, he had a couple of spells injured but we saw the progress he was making but this season he’s stepped up again.

“It’s another sign of what we’re trying to achieve here by keeping our best players.”

And Dyche feels the club are in a good position to be able to ward off interest in other key cogs in the side: “We’re strong financially, so there’s no sense of anyone having to go anywhere.

“There’s just a reality to the market, it’s not just us, there’s superpower clubs who get bids of astronomical levels and eventually they have to look at it.

“We’re in a position where it would need very, very big offers to even considering losing any players at this moment in time.

“That’s because of the diligence of the board and myself as manager for running the club at a good level. The payback for that is that we’re in a position that we don’t have to trade out, that’s the good side of making sure the business runs properly.

“The other side is it can be a challenge getting players in, because we’ve all seen the finance required now. Finding that balance can be a tricky thing.”