VAN DIJK SEEKING EXIT
Some big news from Southampton as Virgil van Dijk has said he wants to leave and is not in a fit “psychological” state to play, according to manager Mauricio Pellegrino.
The defender has been linked with a move to Liverpool, and new Saints boss Pellegrino is quoted by the Daily Telegraph as saying: "The boy said that he is not available to play because he wants to leave. This is the decision.
"I had to say, ‘If you don’t want to be involved because you don’t feel okay then you have to train alone until this period of time is over."
Asked if Van Dijk would leave, Pellgerino said: “I repeat that the club said not. I hope that Virgil can review his feelings because you know that today a player is big business. Not just the player but behind them is a lot of interests.
"I don’t want to say too much but we need the player, 100 per cent. I want to help the squad, I want to help Virgil, but we need a player, and I repeat, involved in every training session, not just with the body but with the mind on the pitch with the rest of the players."