Liverpool will receive Southampton on Saturday on Anfield and the confrontation means a special duel for Virgil van Dijk. The Dutch national Orange tried last summer to force a transfer to an interested top club, such as Liverpool, but Van Dijk is still admiring this season in the Saints shirt. Mauricio Pellegrino assures us that the defender is optimally focused for the encounter.
Last summer Van Dijk made it clear that he wanted to move to Liverpool by submitting a transfer request. However, a switch wasn’t made, partly because Southampton was outraged about the fact that the Reds had contacted Van Dijk without the knowledge of the club,”I don’t think it’s going to be difficult for him, because Virgil knows that he is one hundred percent focused on the team,”says Pellegrino.
“Of course we can’t control the transfer market”, says the manager of Southampton, quoted by The Telegraph, among others:”Every transfer window clubs try to buy our players away. But we also look at players and try to strengthen our selection. It belongs to it. Football today is big business and we need to understand”.
“Nowadays, the clubs on the transfer market are fighting to make sure that they get the best player in the house. And we have lots of good players. It’s no secret that players are sometimes distracted, but that’s normal,”concludes Pellegrino. Southampton is currently thirteenth in the Premier League and has already held four duels at zero against Liverpool, which is the fifth largest.
Virgil van Dijk would be a reinforcement for Liverpool.
