Southampton defender Virgil van Dijk hands in transfer request as he tries to force through Liverpool move
Dutch defender goes public in his desire to leave the Saints as Jurgen Klopp's hopes of signing star are boosted
VIRGIL VAN DIJK has handed in a transfer request to Southampton.
The Dutch defender has been training alone after being linked with a move away all summer and has now publicly revealed his desire to leave the South Coast club.
Liverpool have been leading the chase for the centre-half, with Manchester City and Chelsea also interested in signing the star.
And their hopes of landing the former Celtic man have been significantly boosted following his statement on Monday.
Van Dijk said: “It is with regret that I can confirm that I have today handed in a transfer request to leave Southampton football club.
“Unfortunately I feel I have no alternative after I was given notice of the club's intention to impose a disciplinary sanction against me of a fine equivalent to 2 weeks wages.
“I will be appealing what I feel to be an unjustified sanction and their inability to follow the correct disciplinary protocol in due course.
“Over the past six months I have held numerous discussions with representatives of the board, the former manager Claude Puel as well as the new manager Mauricio Pellegrino to inform them all of my desire to leave the club in search of a new challenge.
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“I am incredibly ambitious and want to achieve as much as I possibly can to fulfil my potential in what is a very short career as a professional footballer. I want to play European football again and challenge for major honours and as such I would like Southampton to consider the interest in me from top clubs should it still exist.
“I have been left frustrated by the club's position that I am not for sale and am disappointed that enquiries from multiple top clubs have been consistently rebuffed.”
He continued: “The period of time that I have just spent injured and unable to play has put a number of things into perspective and made me realise just how important it is to take major opportunities should they arise.
“I have consistently relayed my feelings to senior management at Southampton in what I believed to be private and personal conversations. Disappointingly, these conversations have regularly found their way into the media.
“I would also like to make clear that I have never once refused to train. I can confirm that I was asked about my frame of mind and for all of the reasons mentioned above I was open and honest in saying that I did not feel I was in a settled mindset given the circumstances.
“Following this conversation the manager explained that he only wanted players who he felt were 100% committed to Southampton and told me I would therefore have to train away from the first team.
“As a proud professional I am insulted by the suggestion that it was me who refused to train and so feel it is important to point out the true version of events.
“I had very much hoped to retain the good relationship I've always enjoyed with everyone at the club, especially the fans, but unfortunately in light of everything that's happened this has now been seriously affected.
“I would like to make clear that I have nothing but gratitude to everyone at Southampton for giving me the opportunity to play in the Premier League.
Virgil van Dijk - 'better and quicker than Rio Ferdinand'
- Van Dijk was born in Breda, Holland, on July 8 1991.
- He grew up pretending to be Ronaldinho when he played street football.
- He spent a year with Willem II as a youth before moving to Groningen.
- After graduating from their academy in 2011 Van Dijk played 66 times for the Eredivisie club over three seasons, scoring seven times.
- Celtic gave Van Dijk his break in British football by moving in 2013 and the Dutchman quickly established himself in their first team.
- The 6ft 4ins defender's form saw Southampton make a move in 2015 and after 68 appearances in two seasons Champions League clubs are circling.
- Van Dijk's international career began in 2015 and he has since played 12 times for his country.
- Pundit Tony Cascarino described van Dijk as "even better and quicker than Rio Ferdinand".
“However, the time for me to move on is now and I hope to be able to work with the club to find the best resolution to suit all parties.”
Reports emerged on Monday that Jurgen Klopp was ready to pull the plug on his pursuit of Van Dijk.
It is believed that Southampton would rather sell to Chelsea than Liverpool after accusing the Reds of tapping up their star man two months ago.
The Anfield outfit issued a grovelling apology for the way they tried to sign Van Dijk – which was accepted by Saints.
Southampton chief Les Reed continues to insist that the 6ft 3in Holland ace is NOT for sale.
He said: “None of those players are for sale. I can’t make it any plainer than that and that’s the way we mean to go forward.
“We built this squad over some time and think we have a strong squad.
“We will fine-tune it but, other than that, we are looking forward to a very competitive season next year and we plan to go forward on that basis.”
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