VAN MAN SAINT ON THE MOVE
® VIRGIL VAN DIJK has been told it is nothing personal but he will NOT be leaving Southampton.
Saints chairman Ralph Krueger dug his heels in yesterday. Van Dijk, who has made a transfer request, is training on his own as he tries to force a move to Liverpool, with Chelsea also interested.
But Krueger is fed up of Saints being seen as a selling club and is taking a stand.
He said: “Virgil is not for sale in this window and it’s not personal. It’s not about him, it’s about a change of course for Southampton.
“The first summer I was here, five players went out and six went in, not counting academy. Second summer, three went out, seven came in, and third summer five went out, five came in.
Principle
“Now it is one out and two in, and this is who we want to become. We want to mature.
“That’s one player in this whole equation of 25 and it is the visible one, but for us it’s the principle and 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.
“On September 1 people will see how serious we were and are.”
Saints signed Juventus midfielder Mario Lemina and Lech Poznan defender Jan Bednarek this summer, with Krueger adding: “We’re definitely not done. We’re looking at options.”