Ebbsfleet boss Dennis Kutrieb is happy that the vast majority of his squad will remain at the club next season.

The Fleet continue to drip-feed news of players from their title-winning squad who have agreed to stay at Stonebridge Road in the National League.

But there are likely to be few departures as the Fleet seek evolution rather than revolution under the shrewd and measured guidance of Kutrieb.

“It’s very important, that’s key when you start pre-season as most of the players will know your face, know your attitude, your work ethic and what you expect from them so you don’t need to pay too much attention at the beginning to get everyone on the same page,” explained Kutrieb.

“If you have most of the squad together then you don’t have to start from scratch again.

“That’s positive so you can focus on the newcomers and the people that you bring in through the door, then try to make everyone feel like we are a team.

“You can pay more attention to the new players and make sure they understand what we have already achieved together as a club and what the boys achieved on a daily basis.

“I was positively surprised that nearly everyone was more than keen to speak to us and we were their first option to say what is possible.

“I have to say a big credit to our boys that I got the feeling from nearly everyone that they were more than keen to stay if we would like to work with them.”

While Kutrieb attracted interest from Football League clubs, there must have been genuine interest in a number of Ebbsfleet players who have decided to stay at Stonebridge Road.

The Fleet boss insisted that money isn’t everything, and it’s the whole package of enjoying their football at Ebbsfleet which is the key factor.

“As a manager you don’t go too deep into it,” he said. “At the end of the day, everyone can have interest. Agents are coming into the game as well where you never know what is the truth, are there offers or no offers?

“I tend not to waste my time with what other options are there for players. For me it’s just about if they want to stay, are they fully committed?

“In general, I would guess there was more than enough interest in our players but what we could see over the last few years is that people appreciate where they are and they feel the value of the club, not just themselves.

“They can say ‘okay I had a good season, so I can go to another club’ and do the same again but it’s not just about the players or just me or the club, it’s all three together that made us successful.

“That’s what the players understand as well over the time to say, okay I’m not the most important piece, it’s all together and everyone has a part. If a player understands that then he doesn’t need to go anywhere else.

“If someone is convinced to find something better than what we can deliver as a club on a daily basis all together with our approach, we want to play on the floor, play attractive football, we want to score goals and we want to work hard. All of those things together are not so easy to find somewhere else.

“There might be an option to earn more money, that’s definitely something, but apart from that is the other team really interested in playing? Do they play a different style of football?

“There’s many things coming together and I think from a players’ point of view we’re very attractive at the moment and that’s why not many players want to leave.”

Josh Wright, Chris Solly, Craig Tanner and Joe Martin are the latest players the club have confirmed are staying for the 2023/24 season.