Southampton are remaining firm in their stance that skipper Virgil van Dijk will not be sold, despite securing potential replacement Wesley Hoedt from Lazio.
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The 23-year-old, also Dutch, arrived yesterday at St. Mary’s and was unveiled, but the Saints want him to play alongside Liverpool’s primary defensive target and not in his place.
Sporting Director Les Reed told the Express: “Wesley has proven his talent through his performances for Lazio, as well as the Netherlands, and we believe he can develop even further here at Southampton, alongside his international teammate Virgil van Dijk, as well as the likes of Jack Stephens, Maya Yoshida, Jan Bednarek and Florin Gardos.”
Van Dijk handed in a transfer request over two weeks ago now, but just like Liverpool and Coutinho, Southampton are refusing his request and have alerted the player he’s not for sale at any price.
Barcelona are testing our mettle with mammoth bids though, while Liverpool have yet to try for van Dijk since our apology for illegally approaching him back in June.
The centre-back is desperate for an Anfield switch, and recently he and Gini Wijnaldum exchanged Instagram follows – although despite the internet rumours this generated – we’ve learnt it means very, very little!
Unless Van Dijk follows Jon Flanagan & not his international team mate Wijnaldum then this means nothing 😂 pic.twitter.com/ZwszDcgosy
— Anything Liverpool (@AnythingLFC_) August 23, 2017