Exclusive: Southampton hopeful they can convince Virgil van Dijk to stay

Southampton are confident they can convince Virgil van Dijk to commit to the club for another year at least after reaffirming their stance that he will not be sold to Liverpool, a source close to the club has told Yahoo Sport UK.

Van Dijk’s future has been the subject of intense transfer speculation in recent weeks, with Liverpool forced to issue a somewhat embarrassing public apology to Southampton after they made illegal approaches for the Dutch defender earlier this year.

That apology included a vow that they would end their interest in Van Dijk, yet speculation has persisted that Liverpool would make a fresh move for a player who has been valued at £70m by Southampton.

With Van Dijk signing a new contract that will keep him at the club until 2022 only last summer, Southampton have stated repeatedly that they have no interest in selling their in-demand star and we understand that position has not changed despite the events of recent days.

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In a bid for forced through a move, Van Dijk has made it clear that he does not want to stay at Southampton and was left out of the club’s pre-season training camp in France, that has been overseen by new manager Mauricio Pellegrino in recent days.

A senior Southampton source told Yahoo Sport that ‘every player has a price’ earlier this year, yet they appear to be keen to make a stance over Van Dijk, with talks planned between the player and manager Pellegrino in the coming days in a bid to bring him back into the first team squad.

Van Dijk could continue to agitate for a move despite Southampton’s reluctance to sell, but the club hope he will accept their eagerness to hang on to him and nurse him back to first team action after he missed the first half of 2017 with a foot problem.

We understand that Southampton are determined to add to their squad rather than sell their best assets in the final weeks of the transfer window, with new boss Pellegrino consulting with Head of Football Development Les Reed over a host of transfer targets.

Southampton are looking to add options to their defensive and attacking line before the close of this transfer window, with the club determined to hang on to any player they view as an integral part of their first team plans.

Southampton open their Premier League programme with back-to-back home games against Swansea and West Ham next month.