Southampton Chairman Ralph Krueger has again reiterated that Virgil Van Dijk will not be sold in this transfer window.

Ralph Krueger has clearly stated that the club will not sell Virgil Van Dijk this summer, but that the player will be welcomed back with open arms when he has accepted that fact.

Van Dijk has been one of a number of supposed big stars this summer who have decided that contracts mean nothing to them and that they owe nothing to their clubs in terms of loyalty even when they have only recently signed long term deals.

Most who are stirred up by their agents who are only interested in the biggest cash offer, seem unable to grasp reality and think they are above the laws of the land let alone football.

But the clubs are fighting back and Ralph Krueger has made sure that no one is in any doubt where Saints stand. Indeed they are looking to add to the squad before the transfer window ends and not sell the best players.

Speaking to the Daily Echo Krueger said.

“Our stance remains based on our strategy from May when we spoke last.

“I already told you the numbers that we have transferred in and transferred out and it is time to stop that.

“We really thought this was a good summer for that. Strength of the contracts, age of the group and the experiences of last year like going to a cup final gave us the feeling this is a group that tasted that winning and keeping them together would give us the chance to reach another level."

“Virgil is not the only player that is involved in this he is part of the whole strategy of not selling. Nobody is for sale that we don't want to sell and so he is not for sale in this window. We have said it more than once."

“We are not done with the window yet. We are still looking at some options. I am not going to promise anything. It has got to be something that truly strengthens the squad and fits into our group."

“We are still looking and at the end of the transfer window we will see who we have and what we have.

“Mauricio has done an amazing job of dealing with this situation. It has not disrupted our team. It is not in any way caused a lack of focus in training, in the locker room, and of course everybody will open their arms when Virgil comes back and we go at it.”

Krueger was asked whether Saints would even turn down a ludicrous offer if one came in and replied:

“I will tell you one thing - over the years we have spoken I don't give definite answers where there isn't a definite."

“With all the knowledge I have today and all the information I have on my plate right now my answer is we are carrying our strategy through the summer and that's it. “

This is the sort of statement Saints fans want to hear, they want to see the club led from the front and although most appreciate that things have to be kept in house at times, the supporters do need to know that the situation is in hand.

Krueger has a reputation for being a man who sticks to his guns and doesn't make brash statements, he know the Van Dijk situation is delicate and whilst it must be tempting to come out with all guns blazing, he knows that when the window shuts there has to be some bridge building done between the player, the club and indeed the fans.

Photo: Action Images

SaintPaulVW added 18:41 - Aug 16 He's not for sale. VVD needs to knuckle down now. Hopefully he gets the message.
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1970 added 18:45 - Aug 16 that's one of the most positive statements we've ever heard from Ralph and if we get a fully focused van dyjk back then this is very good news for us, if we add a couple of decent signings then we should be very good team to watch at least coyr
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BaselSaint added 19:00 - Aug 16 When will VVD do a Schneidlin and accept the situation I wonder? Will he ever do it? There must be some persuasive voices from the club ringing in his ear with the World Cup being mentioned more than once.
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ChristchurchSaint added 19:01 - Aug 16 I will admit that I am not one of RK's biggest fans, but I will openly say that I 1 admire his stance on this one 100%. He has been open from the beginning, saying VVD is not for sale, and he has solidly stuck to it. Even more, they seem to have realised the error of their ways in selling players over the last few years, and now are trying to do something about the situation. Long may it continue!

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SanMarco added 19:11 - Aug 16 Well that is certainly what we wanted to hear. VVD has got a big decision to make. I still think accepting an enormous non-Liverpool offer might be worth it but if Ralphy is adament...
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darkangelv2 added 19:27 - Aug 16 VVD needs to go for me. Either that or bench him all season. Not fair on the rest of the committed squad if VVD gets welcomed back into the first team.
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helpineedsomebody added 19:30 - Aug 16 when pc is sold to barca cash then we will see who decides if vvd goes or stays cash is king kruger is an enployee of the club the final call will be the owner will he turn down 100million cash if the new owner turns down all that money we may have a guy who is with us fore us & will build a team that has achance against the top 6 we will soon find out
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kenis added 19:59 - Aug 16 I hope this also applies to Cedric, Bertrand and Tadic. Keeping all of them and adding another CB would be very good business. Still think we have one too many in central mid now and Claise is the one closest to the door for me.
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the_saint added 20:12 - Aug 16 We have had to sell over the seasons because of week contracts and squad building, with this close of season I think we have now turned the corner and with new investment will never look back. If the Southampton management read the ugly inside I would like to say very well done to you all, top top club one that is the envy of many clubs out there including the top 6.

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the_saint added 20:25 - Aug 16 Makes me laugh how all the Liverpool fans are saying they should put in a bid for Wesley Hoedt how very very sad they are
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Consigliere added 20:37 - Aug 16 I agree with the emotional response of all the previous posters and in my heart I feel the same way but.....lets have a reality check here. If Barcelona or Real Madrid came along with a very large offer, does anyone really think that the Board wouldn't sell? How could they be doing their duty if they turned down (say) a hundred million (subject to certain safeguards to prevent a sell-on to one of our competitors - say a further 100 million in the event of a sale on to Chelsea or Liverpool). It is certainly true that there are some things money can't buy and loyalty is one of them, but whilst I am all in favour of teaching this overpaid prima donna a lesson (and others too) and even more in favour of hanging his agent out to dry, there comes a point at which the greater good of the club overwhelms the other arguments. That being said, and with an eye to the long term ("Don't mess with us") my view would be this: Don't sell to Liverpool at any price, probably don't sell to another PL club unless a truly astronomical offer, but if a massive offer comes along from a foreign club then possibly do go along with it, subject to the safeguards mentioned above.

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AmericanSaint added 21:18 - Aug 16 Well the Club has spoken and many fans are happy. However, as some have pointed out, if a massive offer of 75M+ is offered by a foreign club, then for the betterment of the club, it should be considered. I do not think he should be allowed to go to any EPL club this year. In addition, if he is sold to Barcelona (ie), then we could by Hoerdt, Wimmer and Beneteke for all that money. Now that would make us a much better club in the long run. Just a thought.

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bstokesaint added 22:09 - Aug 16 Fair play to Ralph, again. He takes some unwarranted stick in my opinion. He is a man of his word and to always has been. I admire that. Where his roots lie have little bearing at his level. When you know big money sport and you're half intelligent than you can adapt. Also I don't think his statement is an admission of errors in seasons gone by. The club did what it had to do to survive. Now that's changed and so we adapt again. Hopefully this will ease the concerns of the doubters. Like others said you can not rule out truly astronomical offers, but can anyone?

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steve73 added 23:53 - Aug 16 Very pleased by Ralph's statement. Quite sad tho, when you think about how our fans, and indeed Liverpool's, have been hanging on every word of this ongoing saga, desperate for good news, when the bloke in question has acted like a deplorable scumbag. Whatever the outcome, even if he has a sustained spell of success at Saints, the guy's shown himself to be a complete bell end. Football is sport. And there's been nothing sporting about any of it. It makes me feel sick. I know it sounds like a pitchfork wielding rant but the guy deserves a smack, not the wide eyed adulation he'll get if he grudgingly decides to play for us again. I love our club and I hope we continue to act correctly, wherever that may take us. And if that nasty little sod ever wears our colours again he'd better do it with pride.

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aceofthebase added 08:25 - Aug 17 If VVD is not sold in this window, and I would prefer that he comes to his senses and plays for us the consequences as time goes on are immense for VVD and the club. We will not be seen as quite such an easy target for clubs wishing to raid our best players. The value of VVD who has not played since roughly Xmas and not been tested post injury will surely drop month by month. I cannot see any top club, either here or in Europe, risking a huge transfer fee on a player who has not proved his fitness or quality for nine to twelve months. This is not good news for VVD, he will be an unwanted dissatisfied player who will be seeing his career go rapidly downhill. At the next transfer window, if he hasn't played a game, the bids for VVD will never be anywhere near 50 to 70 million. No top club will want him and mid table clubs might offer 20 million if they are up for a gamble. So no-one wins. Interesting to see how this plays out but if his attitude hasn't changed in the next week the best solution is to flog him overseas for a reduced price of 30- 40 million, with a sell on clause. Accept the smaller loss, top clubs don't want him and move on

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birminghamsaint added 08:51 - Aug 17 I'm not sure I will believe he is staying until it is confirmed by some 'legend' on 'Empire of the Kop'.
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saintfrance added 18:23 - Aug 17 Well I've always thought Ralph was a straight up guy and Les doesn't get the respect he deserves, as for VVD loan him to CSK Moscow and see how that goes, he has already stuffed himself as far as his international aspirations go, serves him right.
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SaintBrock added 16:02 - Aug 18 "Krueger has a reputation for being a man who sticks to his guns and doesn't make brash statements" Actually Krueger has been a man of very few words this year which has been one of the root causes of fan dissatisfaction.
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SaintBrock added 16:11 - Aug 18 Let's get real for a moment. No way vD will attract a £100m offer from anybody. Just the simple fact that his only confirmed suitor has been Liverpool and neither they nor their many unofficial spokespersons have mentioned any figure above £60m, says to me that the market knows the bloke's true worth bearing in mind his recent injury record and it probably isn't anywhere near the £75m that seems to have been linked to saints sources. On that basis alone both he and we may have over inflated expectations of his value to somebody else.

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