The way I’d be approaching the situation would have been to assume they were not going to resign and to have been actively seeking replacements from the end of the season. I don’t see any point in reducing our options by withdrawing the contract offers until those replacements have agreed to sign.
2reasons:
You can’t give someone a contract while you have one (that you now can’t afford) in someone’s else’s hands. Sure you can talk to folks which I sincerely hope JB has been doing for weeks now.
Loyalty works 2 ways. Sure the player needs to look after himself but if those time wasting tactics cause huge disruption at the club, then no matter how good he is ... walk away.