Southampton Will Receive Less Than £17m This Month for Virgil Van Dijk's Transfer to Liverpool

Southampton will receive less than £17m from Liverpool to spend this transfer window for the  world record transfer of defender Virgil Van Dijk.

The Dutch defender started to pay off the extortionate £74m The Reds invested in him with a  late winner in the Merseyside derby last night to send his new club through to the FA Cup Fourth Round.

Southampton fans were for the most part delighted with the huge influx of funds despite the loss of their best player, but according to The Times, Saints fans are in for further disappointment if they're expecting a flurry of expensive new additions this window.

Their initial windfall "will be less than £17m" and although Southampton are guaranteed to receive £70m for Van Dijk, their profit from the transfer will be cut further by the fact that Celtic’s 10 percent sell-on fee. 

A further £4m will then be received in bonus payments if the Holland defender meets certain performance targets.

Although this type of instalment payment is commonplace in modern day transfers, it will be a big blow to Mauricio Pellegrino who desperately needs funds to add to his struggling squad.

Liverpool’s payments will be made in three equal instalments over the next three years beginning with a £23.3m downpayment this month.