Report: Liverpool Target Virgil van Dijk Will Stay at Southampton This Summer
It appears that an end has come to the prolonged transfer saga surrounding Southampton's Virgil van Dijk, as it has emerged - via Sky Sports - that the centre-half will remain a Saints player this summer, putting an end to Liverpool's long-term pursuit of the Dutchman.
Despite handing in a transfer request, Van Dijk will not be leaving the south coast for Merseyside to ply his trade for Jurgen Klopp, a prospect which the 26-year-old had supposedly deeply desired all summer.
But it appears that Southampton have ultimately stood firm in their attempts to keep hold of their sought-after centre-half, even though their decision to keep hold of Van Dijk went against his wishes.
Earlier on in the summer, the Reds were forced to apologise Southampton for allegedly tapping-up the defender, with Van Dijk formally claiming that he 'wanted' to play under German boss Klopp at Anfield.
Although now, despite Liverpool's efforts to snag the centre-back, a last-ditch switch is simply not to be, and after training alone at the club's training facility, it will be a tough task for Van Dijk to reintegrate into Mauricio Pellegrino's squad.
Van Dijk, amid all the endless transfer speculation, has not yet played for Southampton during the 2017-18 season, and it appears that he may have a lot of grovelling to do if he's going to be able to showcase his qualities for his current employers in the coming weeks, when domestic football resumes after the international break.
Although, with Pellegrino being new at the helm of Southampton, Van Dijk's relationship with the Argentine boss is not sour as it was not the former Alaves manager's decision to block or indeed sell the him if needs be.
In the long run, retaining Van Dijk's services will prove to be vital to Southampton's push for Europe as he will undoubtedly break back into the fold at some point, and at Liverpool's expense, he will feel like a new signing to the club.
