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Would Southampton be smart to turn down £60m for van Dijk?

By Chris Hughes

NORWICH, ENGLAND - JANUARY 07: Virgil van Dijk of Southampton reacts during the Emirates FA Cup Third Round match between Norwich City and Southampton at Carrow Road on January 7, 2017 in Norwich, England. (Photo by Stephen Pond/Getty Images)
NORWICH, ENGLAND - JANUARY 07: Virgil van Dijk of Southampton reacts during the Emirates FA Cup Third Round match between Norwich City and Southampton at Carrow Road on January 7, 2017 in Norwich, England. (Photo by Stephen Pond/Getty Images) /
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Southampton chairman Ralph Krueger has gone on record to say the club would turn down a huge offer for their team captain.

The potential departure of both Claude Puel and Virgil van Dijk is seemingly all that’s been doing the rounds as of late, and the Saints’ chairman has commented on both.

The Canadian-born German’s comments on Puel’s future are somewhat hazy and unclear, but when it came to Virgil van Dijk things were a lot more set in stone.

He said that the Saints have no realistic need to sell anybody when questioned by the media, irregardless of if a £60 million bid was made for the side’s Dutch defender Virgil van Dijk.

The original reported value for the 25-year-old was in the region of £50 million, a figure that would already far-exceed any fee the club has received.

But at that amount of money would the Saints be wise to turn down such a bid?

SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND – DECEMBER 08: Virgil van Dijk of Southampton during the UEFA Europa League match between Southampton FC and Hapoel Beer-Sheva FC at St Mary’s Stadium on December 8, 2016 in Southampton, England. (Photo by Catherine Ivill – AMA/Getty Images)
SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND – DECEMBER 08: Virgil van Dijk of Southampton during the UEFA Europa League match between Southampton FC and Hapoel Beer-Sheva FC at St Mary’s Stadium on December 8, 2016 in Southampton, England. (Photo by Catherine Ivill – AMA/Getty Images) /

As brilliant as Virgil van Dijk had been in the first half of the season, it’s evident that the Saints have survived without him. They have three clean-sheets from their last five games and have somehow looked alright with Maya Yoshida and Jack Stephens at the back.

£60 million from the sale of VVD would give the Saints more than enough money to reinvest in new centre-backs with cash to spare, knowing their back-up choices would be able to put a shift in when called upon.

However the money any big European club may offer has to been taken rationally. How valuable is van Dijk to the Saints? He’s definitely the best centre-back they’ve had since returning to the Premier League and is arguably their best since the turn of the century.

Therefore it could be argued that he’s invaluable to Southampton, and that Krueger is right. The Saints do have no reason to sell and he should stay at the club.

But a deal worth £50 million or more would make the Dutchman the most expensive defender of all time, surpassing David Luiz’s transfer away from Chelsea to PSG. Can the Saints really turn that down?

What’s more the club may not be in a position to sell but denying the ambitious defender the opportunity to move to a team like Liverpool or Chelsea could easily unsettle the 25-year-old.

However van Dijk was evidently able to commit to the club last summer – he signed a six-year deal which won’t end until the summer of 2022.

Therefore it’d seem mad for the Dutch international to want to force a move away from the club, especially after he took on captain’s responsibilities after Jose Fonte left in January.