Saints chief: Van Dijk stays to help us grow

SOUTHAMPTON chairman Ralph Krueger insists the club’s new Chinese owners are fully behind their refusal to sell star centre back Virgil van Dijk.

The Holland defender is desperate to leave and has handed in a transfer request at St Mary’s in the knowledge that Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester City are all interested in signing him.

Southampton have stood firm this summer, reporting Liverpool to the Premier League for allegedly making an illegal approach for Van Dijk and warning other rivals away.

The South Coast club are tired of their best players being poached each year and now have significantly more financial clout after the Gao family bought an 80 per cent stake of the club for £210million on Monday.

‘We want to mature, we want to be a team that can profit from “synergies” that create a much more attractive football and a better product for the fans, and gives us a chance to get back into Europe,’ Krueger said yesterday.

‘That’s one player in this whole equation of 25 and it is the visible one, but for us it’s the principle, it’s the path and it’s the statement we need to make to get to a new space as a club.

‘We are very, very adamant about carrying this through. The new partnership has completely and wholly backed our strategy and plan and on September 1, people will see how serious we were and are.’

Van Dijk released a statement 10 days ago, saying he ‘regretted’ handing in the transfer request but was ‘left frustrated by the club’s position’. The 26-year-old, who signed a six-year deal last year, said: ‘I am not for sale and am disappointed that enquiries from multiple top clubs have been consistently rebuffed.’

But Krueger, 57, said: ‘Virgil is not for sale in this window and it’s not personal. It’s not about him, it’s about an overall much bigger picture — a change of course for Southampton.

‘The first summer I was here five players went out and six came in, not counting academy. Second summer three went out, seven came in, and third summer five went out, five came in. Now it is one out and two in, and this is the sort of club we want to become.’

Meanwhile, the Saints have made a £15m move for Lazio defender Wesley Hoedt. Sportsmail revealed their interest in the 23-year-old last month and the player, who has been capped by Holland four times, is open to the move.