Virgil van Dijk set to train away from Southampton squad again
By Chris Hughes
It seems that van Dijk’s reintegration into the Southampton squad has not gone as planned, with the defender once again set to train alone.
According to a report in the Daily Echo this morning, the Saints and their team captain are still some way from a mutual agreement regarding the latter’s future.
It was suggested at the start of this week that van Dijk and the club were set for showdown talks regarding the Dutchman’s future, but it’s now come out that VVD has not changed his stance on wanting to leave.
At the start of the summer Southampton put their foot down regarding player departures, insisting that their key assets were all tied down to long contracts, meaning they were in no position to sell like before.
A couple of months later and Southampton stuck to their word, despite interest in van Dijk, Ryan Bertrand and Cedric Soares.
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However that hasn’t stopped van Dijk from wanting to leave in order to play Champions League football, meaning he will once again train alone as the Saints prepare for friendlies against Augsburg and Sevilla.
The report in the Echo also states that Saints boss Mauricio Pellegrino is now preparing for the very realistic possibility that he will not have his captain available for the game against Swansea.
Van Dijk is yet to feature in pre-season meaning he still hasn’t played a proper minute of football since the fateful affair against Leicester, when Jamie Vardy injured him, making him miss the rest of the season.
However van Dijk’s move away from the club is far from certain, with Liverpool insisting they will only make a move for him if the club make it evident they are now willing to sell. With the Saints seemingly keen to keep the 26-year-old, this latest ‘saga’ could little-to-nothing in the long run.