Southampton stand firm over Virgil van Dijk following Liverpool interest Jeremy Wilson, deputy football correspondent, chris bascombe
8 JUNE 2017 • 10:30PM
Southampton have told Virgil van Dijk that he is not for sale this summer and believe that their complaint over Liverpool’s conduct – which may still result in a formal Premier League investigation – has shown how serious they are about their stance.Liverpool were ready to pay a world-record £60 million fee for a defender for Van Dijk but Southampton were infuriated by stories suggesting that he wanted to join them and ultimately forced a public apology and promise from Liverpool that they would not pursue the player.
Van Dijk is only one season into a six-year deal and, amid interest also from Arsenal, Manchester City and Chelsea, Southampton have made it clear that they now expect their captain to return focused for pre-season following the injury that has sidelined him since January.The Premier League is awaiting observations from Liverpool and Southampton before deciding whether any action will be taken over the south coast club’s demand for an investigation into whether there had been an illegal approach. Liverpool do not expect to know for certain if they will be in the clear until next week.
Southampton have sold star players in each of the previous three summers and, while offers in the region of £70 million may cause a reappraisal, now believe that he will stay.
Southampton are likely to be satisfied with the fulsome apology they received on Wednesday night but they have not dropped their complaint and believe that it is now for the Premier League to decide what should happen. The League theoretically has a range of disciplinary sanctions open to it if a club are found to have ‘tapped up’ another player.
Liverpool and Southampton officials had the chance to come face-to-face at the Premier League’s board meeting held in Harrogate on Thursday, on what was sure to have been an uncomfortable debut for the Anfield club’s new chief executive, Peter Moore.
A high level Anfield delegation accompanied Moore, as Liverpool’s principal owner, John W Henry, and chairman, Tom Werner, were also in attendance. That is not usual, but it was pre-planned rather than a consequence of recent events.
Their presence was more likely to have been a result of the argument regarding overseas TV rights. Liverpool determined to push for a greater market share of broadcast revenue as they believe the price paid by customers abroad is based on the attractiveness of the biggest clubs. It is understood that the Van Dijk situation did not come up and relations between Liverpool and Southampton were cordial.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2017/06/08/southampton-stand-firm-virgil-van-dijk-following-liverpool-interest/
