Southampton give Virgil van Dijk time off as Liverpool’s Jurgen Klopp eyes January swoop
Now it remains to be seen if deeply disappointed Dutchman will knuckle down and give his all for the South Coast club
VIRGIL van Dijk has been given time off by Southampton following his unsuccessful Liverpool transfer saga.
The Dutch central defender had been hoping Saints would let the Reds proceed with an official bid.
Instead the South Coast team dug their heels in.
Van Dijk left training on Thursday afternoon and Southampton fan site claims he has been given time off.
They indicate he is expected to return to first-team training on Monday morning.
As it was Jurgen Klopp’s men never made a bid for Van Dijk after they were forced to apologise for a “misunderstanding” in their pursuit in June.
Liverpool basically wrecked their hopes of landing the 25-year-old when Southampton reported them to the Premier League over an illegal approach for the player.
A possible deal never got off the ground after that and now Klopp is expected to try again in January.
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Van Dijk handed in a transfer request, while Liverpool were reportedly ready to stump up to pay £70million.
It remains to be seen if Van Dijk – injured for the second half of last season – will reintegrate into first-team affairs knuckle down to give his all for the club.
A similar situation surrounded Luis Suarez at Liverpool a few years ago.
He returned, instead of joining Arsenal, to have his best season at Anfield.
