Southampton have become renowned for selling their best players in recent seasons.
Southampton manager Claude Puel
Saints boss Claude Puel spoke to reporters during his pre-match press conference, and issued a hands-off warning to any club who might be considering making an approach for Virgil van Dijk in the summer, as quoted by Sky Sports.
The towering Dutchman is thought to be many of the Premier League’s best club’s primary transfer target this summer, with Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool all keeping tabs on the Southampton centre-back.
The 25-year-old defender made the move to St Mary’s from Celtic in September 2015, for a fee believed to be in the region of £11.5 million, and has since gone on to establish himself as one of the league’s best centre-backs.
His impressive showings have not gone unnoticed, however, with so many clubs plotting summer swoops for Van Dijk, but Puel instead that his currently injured star will be going nowhere, as quoted by Sky Sports:
Southampton’s Ryan Bertrand and Virgil van Dijk look dejected
“He is our captain. He is important for us. He is a fantastic player. We will wait until the beginning of the season to see him again on the pitch. He has a long contract and the directors want to keep him”.
The south coast outfit currently sit in 10th spot in the table, but have been without the 25-year-old since January, although a top-10 finish would surely still constitute a fairly successful campaign, as Puel continues to impress his ideas and philosophies upon the Saints side.
They face Arsenal tonight, and a win could take them as high as eighth in the table.
The hard work will begin in the summer, however, as they attempt to fend off any kind of interest in Van Dijk.
Southampton’s Virgil van Dijk celebrates
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