The Southampton centre-back has been heavily linked with a move away.
Southampton, who were without Virgil Van Dijk as speculation surrounding his future persists, were provided with an welcome glimpse of what the future could look like if the Dutch defender leaves as they were beaten 5-2 away by Tottenham Hotspur yesterday.
Although, in mitigation, Southampton were up against a team with some excellent attacking players and the scarily prolific Harry Kane, there is a good chance that the damage might not have been quite so significant had van Dijk been in action.
The central-defensive pairing that Southampton fielded against Tottenham – comprised of Maya Yoshida and Wesley Hoedt – was run ragged at Wembley and provided evidence to suggest that relegation is a serious possibility for Mauricio Pellegrino’s team if they lose van Dijk and are unable to suitably replace him.
Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester City have all been linked with a move for van Dijk with the January transfer window rapidly approaching, as reported by The Daily Mirror, with Southampton demanding £70 million for the defender.
It looks rather likely that van Dijk will leave Southampton in January and if that proves to be the case then the majority of the money that they receive must immediately be invested in bringing in a new centre-back otherwise the Saints, who are currently in 14th place in the Premier League, could well be relegated.
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