Saints fans will not be happy to hear that Virgil Van Dijk has ditched his agent and joined Ronald Koeman's !

Media sources are now claiming Everton are favourites to sign Virgil Van Dijk after the Dutch defender ditched his agent Henk-Maarten Chin to join the London-based Wasserman Group.

The Wasserman group are headed up by Rob Jansen who Saints fans will remember was closely linked with Everton and then persuaded Ronald Koeman to leave his then agent to join him at the Wasserman group only a few weeks before Koeman finally said yes to the Toffee's after turning down earlier advances.

This leads to the media concluding that Everton are now going to be throwing a lot of effort in trying so sign Van Dijk and it is not going to help Saints cause when his new agent is also not only closely connected to Everton but the agent of Koeman and with a vested interest in getting Van Dijk to Goodison park.

There are two big reasons why Everton won't succeed with Van Dijk.

The first is that the player is tied to a long term contract, unlike Koeman where Saints hand was forced, Saints can call the tune to a big degree and although ultimately it won't see Van Dijk staying long term, in the short they can hold firm and drive up the price.

Secondly is that Everton are probably not big enough for Van Dijk, his stock has risen greatly this season and he has gone from being the best kept secret at the end of last season to being a big target for some big names in European Football.

The player himself will know that Everton are in disarray, Koeman's job is not safe and the fans are on his back, it is not an environment geared towards taking on the big six at present and although they are better placed than they were in terms of money, it is still a lot less than those they are looking to compete with have to hand.

Everton famously lured Koeman with a £100 million transfer kitty, so far it it exists it remains untouched with Koeman only spending what he raked in from the sale of John Stones, if he does have access to £100 million then he is going to have to spend a lot of that in getting Van Dijk and that will leave little to rebuild the squad.

That means that Van Dijk will jump into a worse situation than he is currently in and he is at an age where he needs his next move to be to a big club with the stature and resources to match his talent.

So the fact that Van Dijk has a new agent is not helpful for Saints, especially as he has a reputation for forcing moves for his clients, but it does not necessarily mean that Van Dijk leaving is any more likely to happen soon than it was before the defender signed up for his new man.

Indeed it means that when Van Dijk does move it is likely to be for far bigger money than we would perhaps have got, when Koeman joined Everton Saints stood firm in their demands and that pushed up the compensation, that is likely to happen again if the Toffee's want Van Dijk, but this time there will be other bidders and that will be good news for Saints but not Everton.

Photo: Action Images

AmericanSaint added 10:34 - Dec 11 Nick - while this is not such good news you make a good point unless the other teams feel that Everton now how the lock because of the agent. I think that Saints need to make a stand here no matter what. I know VVD will leave in the future but it cant be in this January transfer window. If the agent starts to push for a January move, then the Saints just need to sit VVD and risk it. Make a statement that a player is under contract and will move only when it is a benefit to the team. Also, play him in the Under 23s and see how quick he either changes his attitude or if he gets hurt his stock drops . My other concern is about what is happening of the potential sale. Is Leibher selling the team or was that just paper gossip. If the Chinese buy the team, then we have real problems as they will strip it by selling all our top players . Just a thought or too.

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SanMarco added 10:46 - Dec 11 It is a sign of the times that VVD's newly signed 6 year contract is about as significant as the toilet paper I flushed away last night. Does anyone that posts on here think he will still be with us on Sept 1st ? It will be presented as good news if he doesn't go in January. I find it sad that these time-frames seem to be getting smaller and smaller. With Clyne and Wanyama it was three years, Mane and Pelle 2, now we are left hoping that VVD will stay as long as a whole 2. I don't share the confidence that he won't go to Everton. He likes RK and they will probably both end up at Barca. Very good players have the confidence to think that by themselves they can end "disarray". Everton are still above us (just) and RK will be desparate to strengthen in January. We know the two are in contact because of VVD's comments before the Everton game. The agent story makes it worse. Please Saints - give us some good news on the pitch today...

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SanMarco added 10:46 - Dec 11 It is a sign of the times that VVD's newly signed 6 year contract is about as significant as the toilet paper I flushed away last night. Does anyone that posts on here think he will still be with us on Sept 1st ? It will be presented as good news if he doesn't go in January. I find it sad that these time-frames seem to be getting smaller and smaller. With Clyne and Wanyama it was three years, Mane and Pelle 2, now we are left hoping that VVD will stay as long as a whole 2. I don't share the confidence that he won't go to Everton. He likes RK and they will probably both end up at Barca. Very good players have the confidence to think that by themselves they can end "disarray". Everton are still above us (just) and RK will be desparate to strengthen in January. We know the two are in contact because of VVD's comments before the Everton game. The agent story makes it worse. Please Saints - give us some good news on the pitch today...

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AmericanSaint added 10:51 - Dec 11 SanMarco - yes you made a good point about the length of time these players are staying at the club. I think part of the problem is that everyone knows we have a great scouting and academy team and so they just wait for us to find/develop the players and then pay a lot for them and promise a big club experience. I hope that Saints are now going to put a minimum 50M escape clause on everyones contract as that is the only number that seems to make teams hesitate. Plus there should be a personal fine/penalty to the player who utilizes an escape clause, This might cause a few to hesitate. Other sports have these clauses, but not sure if the PA will allow.

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BUCK added 13:50 - Dec 11 There is no way on God's earth Virgil will leave in January. There is every chance he will move on in the summer, saints will always be known as a selling club unless we get an owner like abramovich. We are a laughing stock in terms of selling our best players. This season it's finally come to bite us on the arse. 12th in the league,getting beat by teams like hull and palace. Out of Europa, we couldn't even beat shitty hapoel at home. Claud puel is the wrong manager I think. We've not played well at all this season,Redmond is shocking and not to the standard saints should be at. The last 6 years has been forward steps, this season we've gone back 10 steps. Again sells g best players and its coming to bite us on the arse. I can honestly see us being around 12th to 14th this season. I hope to God I'm wrong.

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hmmm added 16:21 - Dec 11 £25m buyout clause apparently. If true we cant stop him leaving, though likely to be in the summer
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Jesus_02 added 17:27 - Dec 11 @hmmm. If we have a 25m buyout clause then Les is on his second strike after the Toby debacle I think the 25m clause is BS that emanated from the Liverpool area TBH
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the_saint added 17:35 - Dec 11 Club always silent all they need to say is no clause in contract end of, think they enjoy seeing us suffer
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SonicBoom added 19:25 - Dec 11 Buyout clauses are BS anyway. If two clubs are interested then the price will be whoever goes highest. Anyway didn't arsenal offer forty million and one pounds for suarez who had a forty million buyout? Did he go there? No.
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Big_T added 21:24 - Dec 11 The buyout clause was made up by the mirror ,so it must be true. Anyway Virgil will not be going anywhere in January. And he won't go to Everton as RK will not be there.
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DPeps added 21:43 - Dec 11 Modern football is depressing
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dillydog added 21:52 - Dec 11 It is so wrong to say that we are laughing stocks for selling players for profit, the whole set up is being admired by clubs all over the country, with aspirations to follow, copy and improve on. By creating and scouting young players from around the world we stay ahead of the competition, Which is most of the clubs outside the top six . look at the championship for clubs that have spent tens of millions getting it wrong and spending years trying to find the path back. None of us like to see all these players go, or managers, but the policy we have is working there is the makings of another good team again. We can all see that we need more goals, and we have to believe that this will be rectified if possible. Since being back in the premiership we have not sold a player to our competitors, but to the top six clubs , with the exception of Cork to Swansea. There's a classic example of not having a plan when the big six come calling, they seem to be heading for a spell in the championship . Then looking for a way back to the premiership..... PROBALLY THE SOUTHAMPTON WAY!!!!!!!!!!!!

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SaintBrock added 22:02 - Dec 11 Koeman must be ranked as one of this season's failures and the top people at Everton are not known for their patience. Hard to prove but Koeman may have been lucky here inheriting a young squad and a system and style of play already embedded by Adkins and Pochettino and on the up. At Everton he inherited an ageing squad in decline and that is a whole different ball game. So far he has not managed to turn things around. Of course he would like to have VVD back to save his own skin but no way this club will ever deal with Everton with Koeman there. What is less heartening is the visible decline of VVD's concentration levels during recent matches and the clear signs of frustration that he is advertising for all to see. The two are obviously connected and if he now sees himself as too big for the rest of our team then it's hard to see where all this leads. Maybe replacing Puel could be the key to getting us back on track, after all it was he that threw away our successful system that the players clearly enjoyed and replaced it with his new system that has now descended into an unfathomable shambles that nobody seems to like.

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SanMarco added 23:44 - Dec 11 " no way this club will ever deal with Everton with Koeman there." SaintBrock I so want you to be right - but I would rule nothing out, especially if the price is deemed ok for a "cash in". This agent move is a pretty unsubtle signal about his future intentions. Also let's be brutally honest - VVD would hardly be impressed with what he is watching in front of him lately. I think we need to give Puel more time - he needed that win today though and he also needs a good transfer January. It would be insane to dismantle our defensive strength halfway through this difficult season.

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BoondockSaint added 01:30 - Dec 12 dillydog!!?? We are not admired, but laughed at, as every time a Saint has a good game, everyone plays the game "Where Are They Selling HIm To & How Soon?" Perhaps you missed us selling all those players to the Scouse, who were below us on the table. Not to mention letting the manager go to another team below us: Scouse Lite! It was in all the papers. Still think Everton would be a step down for VVD, but then again, I thought Koeman wouldn't go there either for the same reason.

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SaintPaulVW added 07:03 - Dec 12 I can't see him going anywhere in January. I think Fonte will be off then. Next summer I'm sure he'll be off, which is fairly depressing, I'd like to see 3 seasons out of our recruits really. While I accept we sell to improve the squad, it has to be on our terms.
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Scummer added 08:16 - Dec 12 There is only one way to extend or break the cycle. At some point the club has to say no and show signs of building around a talented core. On a personal note I'm struggling to get my son along as regularly. He finds it soul destroying seeing favourite players leave all the time i know that is part of football, but the pace and volume is tough to take without eroding that sense of identity with the team. For the record, I like Puel. I like the rotation - he has produced consistently decent performances out of the squad and they do get the formation. And Sims and McQueen have been great. Our issue is solely finishing and being progressive. He is an intelligent bloke, so let's give him time. Plus he says thing like dribbling without lucidity. 🙂

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welhamdowed added 09:11 - Dec 12 Everton are dog s***e this season and I would be amazed if he ended up there. His stock is such he can walk into a top four side or better.
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ChristchurchSaint added 22:41 - Dec 12 My understanding is that the £25 mill release clause only applies after 4 years of his 6 year contract. Up until that time, we are within our rights to say NO! That's assuming that Les Reed doesn't see the pound signs in front of his eyes!
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