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Southampton’s handling of Liverpool should lead as an example

By Chris Hughes

LONDON, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 03: Virgil van Dijk of Southampton looks on prior to the Premier League match between Crystal Palace and Southampton at Selhurst Park on December 3, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Bryn Lennon/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 03: Virgil van Dijk of Southampton looks on prior to the Premier League match between Crystal Palace and Southampton at Selhurst Park on December 3, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Bryn Lennon/Getty Images) /
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Earlier this week Southampton officially reported fellow club Liverpool over their conduct regarding Virgil van Dijk. It should be a role model for other clubs.

You wouldn’t of blamed Southampton fans for thinking van Dijk to Liverpool was a foregone conclusion. It seemed like once they finished the season in a Champions League spot VVD was as good as theirs.

However yesterday that scenario took a massive U-turn, with Liverpool seemingly ‘ending their interest’ in the Dutch defender amid claims Southampton had reported Klopp’s side for an illegal approach of the former Celtic man.

The Saints had claimed that no official bid had been made and that, as previously insisted, van Dijk wasn’t available at any price. Despite this it’s believed that the Reds approached the club’s team captain personally and even flew him to Blackpool to meet Klopp.

Following the reported meeting the two exchanged regular messages in order for Klopp and his Liverpool team to convince van Dijk to chose Merseyside over a move to London or Manchester, with Chelsea and City interested respectively.

Southampton feel like this contact came directly after they informed the club he was not for sale, making it an illegal bit of contact.

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This is NOT a bad thing

A lot of fans on Twitter have commented on the matter, suggesting that Southampton are clutching at straws in order to keep hold of their star player. This isn’t the case.

Southampton’s reporting of Liverpool may of been branded ‘petty’ but what Liverpool did was a complete breach of law, with the club having insisted that no approach had been made and therefore had not given any permission for the club to speak to VVD.

The same thing shouldn’t have happened to Chelsea and City because from what we know already they didn’t send representatives to fly van Dijk up north whilst he was still under contract to the Saints.

Club’s shouldn’t have to roll over to bigger teams just because a player’s head is turned – VVD committed six years of his playing career to the Saints last summer when he signed until 2022 and the club shouldn’t have to wave that away because Liverpool are willing to cough up the £50-60 million.