Stan Collymore predicts what may be next for Southampton’s Virgil van Dijk amid Liverpool links

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Virgil van Dijk endured an eventful summer transfer window, and Stan Collymore has suggested that that may have damaged his relationship with Southampton.

Stan Collymore has told the Daily Mirror that he fears that Virgil van Dijk has damaged his relationship with Southampton beyond repair after he looked to leave the club during the summer transfer window.

The Saints captain told the south coast side that he wanted to leave back in July amid links with Liverpool and was subsequently exiled from the first-team by new boss Mauricio Pellegrino, according to the Independent.

Unfortunately for the Dutchman however, the deadline passed with him securing a move away, putting everyone in an uncomfortable position with no deal possible until January at the earliest.

And Collymore has predicted that the next window will be when the entire saga comes to a head as he expects Southampton’s players to not make the former Celtic defender feel particularly welcome, and for the club hierarchy to realise that a move is the best option for all parties.

“He looked as if he’d gone a bit ‘Big Time Charlie’ when he started posting moody pictures on private jets and I wouldn’t expect old-school pros like Steven Davis to accept that,” he told the Mirror.

“The poison has perhaps been injected so deep into van Dijk’s relationship with the Saints that, unlike Coutinho, I can’t see a way back in the long term.

“So don’t be surprised to hear of a meeting in the next few weeks designed to get him out of St Mary’s in January.”

Although Collymore believes that the Saints squad will not welcome back the captain with open arms, his column comes just days after Steven Davis – the player Collymore picked out as one who may be difficult to win back round – insisted that van Dijk would be welcomed back given his quality, as reported by the Daily Mirror.

And while Southampton fans will surely need some convincing and assurances before they cheer for the 26-year-old as they did before the summer, it would surely be a strange move from the Saints hierarchy if they decided to move him on in January having stood so firm throughout the summer when signing a replacement would have been so much easier on paper.