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Southampton have said that they will not be bullied into selling defender Virgil van Dijk and any club who has ambitions of signing the 26-year-old will have to lodge a bid in the region of £70 million, a record fee for a defender.
Van Dijk is currently training with the Southampton youth team after he submitted a very public transfer request recently. The former Celtic player stated that he has ambitions of playing at the very top level and feels that he must leave his current club to do so.
Liverpool and Chelsea are the two frontrunners to sign van Dijk, but The Saints are insistent that if they do not receive a good enough offer, he is going nowhere.
With five years remaining on his contract, Southampton are in no rush to sell van Dijk and feel that his value will only increase over the next few years. Despite their clear dispute with the player, the club remains hopeful that they can keep him at St Mary's for at least one more year and will look to reintegrate him with the first team if he is still on the south coast when the transfer window closes.
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Written by Matt Button
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