Southampton Chairman Insists Virgil van Dijk Is Not for Sale Despite Player's Desire

Southampton chairman Ralph Krueger has announced that the club will be sticking to their stance over Virgil van Dijk, despite the player pushing for a move away.

Southampton chairman Ralph Krueger has announced that the club will be sticking to their stance over Virgil van Dijk, despite the player pushing for a move away.

Van Dijk has emerged as a target for the likes of Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea, and was hoping to have been released by the Saints by now. He even went as far as submitting a transfer request in a strongly worded letter to the club.

However, the St Mary's club are unwavering, and insist that he will be welcomed back with open arms when he accepts their decision.

“Our stance remains based on our strategy from May when we spoke last," Krueger said, via the Daily Echo.

“I already told you the numbers that we have transferred in and transferred out and it is time to stop that.

“We really thought this was a good summer for that. Strength of the contracts, age of the group and the experiences of last year like going to a cup final gave us the feeling this is a group that tasted that winning and keeping them together would give us the chance to reach another level."

The chairman is insistent on keeping all of the club's players this summer, and has indicated that Van Dijk isn't the only one out of reach.

“Virgil is not the only player that is involved in this he is part of the whole strategy of not selling. Nobody is for sale that we don't want to sell and so he is not for sale in this window," he continued. 

"We have said it more than once.

“We are not done with the window yet. We are still looking at some options. I am not going to promise anything. It has got to be something that truly strengthens the squad and fits into our group.

“We are still looking and at the end of the transfer window we will see who we have and what we have.

“Mauricio has done an amazing job of dealing with this situation. It has not disrupted our team. It is not in any way caused a lack of focus in training, in the locker room, and of course everybody will open their arms when Virgil comes back and we go at it.”