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Virgil Van Dijk staying put at Southampton shows the Saints are sticking to their plan
Southampton have never once acknowledged Virgil Van Dijk’s outspoken transfer request on Aug 7 and have left it up to their captain to decide himself when he is ready to play having stuck to their guns all summer that he is not for sale at any price.
Van Dijk, who signed a six-year deal in May last year, was previously a target for Liverpool until they had to withdraw their interest with an apology for an illegal approach on June 7, and yet many outside Southampton still predicted that the Dutch defender would leave before Thursday’s 11pm deadline. As for Southampton, they never once replied to Van Dijk’s statement asking to leave and his various accompanying complaints.
His long-term contract was one of a number Southampton have agreed over the past 18 months, tying down whom they regard as the key players in their squad with well-paid long-term deals that give both sides security. Van Dijk is regarded within the club as just one part of their plan that has seen Ryan Bertrand, Cedric Soares, Fraser Forster, Oriol Romeu, Dusan Tadic, Nathan Redmond, Sofiane Boufal, Jack Stephens, James Ward-Prowse and January signing Manolo Gabbiadini all either agree new long-term deals or join on long-term contracts.
They believe they have a strong squad and want to give manager Mauricio Pellegrino the base to challenge the top eight again this season. Last January was the first window when Southampton did not feel they had to sell a player in order to reinvest in other areas of the squad and that policy continued in the last window with the new Chinese majority stake owner Jisheng Gao in agreement.
Last summer, Sadio Mane was sold to Liverpool for a deal that could be worth as much as £38.5 million although he could also have fetched a good price in the summer of 2015. Morgan Schneiderlin was also told that he would not be permitted to leave in the summer of 2014, eventually going to Manchester United one year later.
While selling players will always be part of Southampton’s strategy, as it is with all but a handful of top clubs, they feel that their rigorous contract management has put them in a strong position. Had they buckled on Van Dijk that would have sent the wrong message to the rest of the squad. Van Dijk’s transfer request and public criticism of the club earlier this month was irrelevant within St Mary’s – they had heard much of it in private already, and it changed nothing about the stance they had adopted.
As for the captain’s future, the consensus is that only he can decide when he is ready to feature for the club again, having not played a game since before his ankle injury in January. With Southampton unlikely to deal with Liverpool over the player, Van Dijk may well have to persuade a new suitor to make a big offer for him if he wants to leave in the future. In order to do that the 26-year-old knows that he will have to impress on the pitch once again.
Southampton have broken their transfer record with the £18 million acquisition of Juventus midfielder Mario Lemina and have also added the £15 million Dutch centre-back Wesley Hoedt from Lazio. Their third signing Jan Bednarek is regarded as a more developmental player although he has been called up to the most recent Poland squad.