Saints supporters are fed up with the constant stories in the media about Virgil Van Dijk and want Saints to stand up and make the situation clear to all parties.

The constant media pressure being applied at the moment regarding Virgil VanDijk from every source with a connection to Liverpool Football Club is nothing short of appalling behaviour from a club who once prided themselves that they did business in the right way be it on or off the field.

Indeed it is even upsetting their current players with ex Saints Dejan Lovren apparently storming out of a press conference when trying to speak about his ambitions next season with Liverpool was asked about Van Dijk.

The constant stories in the media have a clear message, Van Dijk wants to go to Liverpool, he will only go to Liverpool !

The facts though are somewhat different, firstly Van Dijk has yet to actually make a public comment on the situation, he has posted various tweets which the Liverpool supporters eem keen to claim are signs that he wants to go to Anfield, absurdly the latest one after the player was asked whether he was going to Anfield by a fan on Saints current pre season tour, the fact that he turned round and smiled was enough to send various Liverpool fan web sites into meltdown with this apparently being a clear sign he wanted to go.

Saints themselves have publicly stated tat Van Dijk is not for sale, they have said that he is an integral part of their plans for next season.

So the situation is plain, it is a stalemate and Liverpool appear to be trying to force the player into doing the only thing less and that is putting in a transfer request.

So why hasn't Van Dijk done so ? if he is so desperate to go to Liverpool this is the only route now open, Liverpool know that which is why they are now desperate and mounting an increasing media campaign .

There are around £7 million reasons why Van Dijk has not put in the request, all of them pound notes and what would be his share of the transfer fee if he sould technically be sold against his will by not putting in that request.

Even if Saints sold Van Dijk for £70 million as it stands they would have to pay 10% to Celtic and another 10% to the player, it is not a good deal at anything less.

So Saint supporters want the club to stand firm on this, they are sick of clubs and Liverpool in particular strolling up and shouting the odds, Van Dijk has five years left on his contract, one he was happy to sign only a year ago when the likes of Liverpool and Chelsea were not offering him the type of deal that Saints were willing to.

I can understand why he wants to go, but that does not mean that it should be on his or Liverpool's terms.

I understand why Les Reed and Saints are reticent to make public statements, in the past they have had a tendency to blow up in their face due to players calling the shots. But now they need to do so.

All Saints supporters want is to see the club stand up and do what is right for Southampton Football Club, they want the situation to be spelled out in no uncertain terms, they want it clarified.

The problem is that the club had a similar situation last year with Jose Fonte and that did not end well and that is why they are worried about esculating the situation.

But it is fast coming to the point where a line has to be drawn, Van Dijk has to put his cards on the table, the club have to put theirs and Liverpool have to put theirs and that appears to be a price they are not prepared to pay.

They are trying to squeeze the deal through on the cheap, they do not care about Van Dijk as a person, Saints fans might find it ironic, but look at the situation Lovren now finds himself in , he know if Van Dijk signs he is finished, Liverpol don't care about his feeling and they don't care about Van Dijk's bank account, they would rather him throw his £7 million share of the transfer fee away.

So it is stalemate, if Van Dijk truly wants to go for his footballing career then he has to put in a transfer request, then Saints can deal with it in which way they choose, what is not acceptable is the current situation where the player doea nothing and Saints have to sit back and view reports put into the media designed to unsettle the player and try and force him into putting in that transfer request.

Photo: Action Images

bstokesaint added 21:48 - Jul 16 Surely it's not necessary to comment every time a story breaks! Not for sale was the message. I think VVD is more worried about being dropped for stepping out of line. Financially I'm sure Liverpool would compensate him for his loss in any transfer fees!
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Bulgarian added 21:53 - Jul 16 The situation IS clear: The Club is taking the matter in a proper manner. They HAVE stated their stance publicly and beyond doubt or any hint for misinterpretation. For Saints to go state every 3 days that they have not changed their position would be demolition. So in this respect our board's behaviour is spot on. As for VVD, he may well desire to go do LFC, but he has decided NOT to make the transfer request, therefore he must be content to stay for another year. Otherwise he would have made that request days before the Austrian camp. It is another matter that his agents and VVD himself know very well that it is in their PR interest not to comment on his status. This builds us momentum and undoubtedly holds VD's status sky high. A third matter is that LFC have chosen another "wise" tactics: to hide behind the mouths of J. Redknapp, J. Carragher and D. Hamman. Their campaign is malicious, indeed, however can hardly be sanctioned by the PL because of the "private sources" that sustain the rumours. In many respects, this is what we are at the moment: trying to hold ground and prove to the world that we are no feeder club etc., but harrassed by the media just because we are supposed to be such. By the end of August I will be happy to conclude that Saints have endured. Make no mistake, this is a crucial point in our recent history. We have been sound in our business deals, but we are fighting for a higher PR profile. We should be prepared for such inconveniences along our way. But we are going in the right direction PR-wise and that is what pleases me most.

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Muzza added 22:19 - Jul 16 Are these the same fans that stand up and head for the exit on 83 mins??
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steve73 added 22:44 - Jul 16 I don't think our club have really done much wrong but I'm pretty appalled, once again, with the behaviour of one of our players amid all the speculation. Look at how Alfie Mawson of Swansea is handling a similar situation with Spurs showing interest in him. He's come out and said he's flattered by the interest and that he's ambitious but at the same time he's happy where he is and he'll wait and see how things unfold. Not committing himself to Swansea fully but there's an honesty there which fans can appreciate. All these cryptic postings and nods and winks make Vergil look like a right pr1ck and personally I'll be glad to see the back of him. Yet another player we adored turns out to be rotten, narcissistic scum. Rapidly falling out of love with this game it's just greed, lies and deception over and over.

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1970 added 22:46 - Jul 16 Good points from Bulgarian, but I believe he was sold to them or saints accepted their negotiations along time ago like March just like Luke shaw and Man spew, that's why the intense media speculation, its not if but when and shitepool want him now, the problem is a rumbling of saints fans behind the scenes not buying season tickets or memberships even the tickets for Swansea game are still available to any-one who's interested but a lot of people are not they want to see Van dijk in a saints shirt this season, so do saints tell us they got a massive deal for VVD and couldn't refuse or start the season with a lot of empty seats you decide but I think he has gone coyr I hope we recover.

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highfield49 added 22:56 - Jul 16 As has been pointed out many times, by many people, Liverpool have yet to make any offer for VVD so there can be no transfer. I don't think any comment from the club is necessary until such time as one or other of the teams said to be interested actually make a bid for his services. Hopefully, Saints will reject any such bid unless it fully matches their valuation of the player and he indicates that he wants to leave. The club can't stop bids, but they can decline them, and they certainly shouldn't encourage bids by indicating that they are interested in discussing a deal at the right money. Frustrating for all supporters but the club saying nothing is probably the best ongoing strategy.

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redandwhitedee added 23:14 - Jul 16 Maybe you are Nick, but most saints fans are fully comprehending the situation. If someone pays enough he will be sold. That is normal and was same for Liverpool when they lost Suarez, same for Ronaldinho when he left Man Utd. Money talks and why prevent a player building his career. If I wanted t leave my own employer and go work for someone else, why shouldn't I ? Anyway, as you said yourself "Saints themselves have publicly stated tat Van Dijk is not for sale, they have said that he is an integral part of their plans for next season." Is that not answering your own question here ? Just relax and see wat happens. If he goes we will survive and be much wealthier. .. yet another fantastic job done by Les Reed and his team. Buy low, develop, sell high. Keep the dream going. Keep the club afloat.

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dirk_doone added 09:00 - Jul 17 As highfield has pointed out, we haven't received any offers from him yet.
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highfield49 added 09:05 - Jul 17 I think you have pretty much summed up the situation redandwhitedee, Bale leaving Tottenham being another example of the "big" clubs inability to hold on to players whose heads are turned. I think I speak for the majority in saying that we understand he may go but we want it to be anywhere but Liverpool and we'd all prefer if he settled in a nice little city in Italy to play.

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saintmark1976 added 09:18 - Jul 17 And whilst all this flim flam goes on about VVD we still appear no further forward in regard to ownership of the club.Just how long can the club have any credibility with it's players, fans or ongoing transfer targets whilst it's in a state of flux?
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patred added 10:11 - Jul 17 We are not likely to get an offer from Liverpool until they are sure it will be accepted. Just imagine their fans reaction if it came out they didn't offer enough. No, Liverpool will do all their negotiations in their usual underhanded way. By 'torturing' our club through the media hoping we'll cave in and sell him on the cheap. It's no coincidence all their ex-players have something to say VvD in the media. Liverpool also made sure they had no rivals by releasing stories that the player will go nowhere else.

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WanderingSaint added 10:41 - Jul 17 I'll do you favour Nick. The bit you need is the following: - "Saints themselves have publicly stated tat Van Dijk is not for sale, they have said that he is an integral part of their plans for next season. So the situation is plain......" There you go. The clarity you seek is in your own article asking for clarity.
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Jesus_02 added 13:24 - Jul 17 Latest headline on the L'pool echo. VVD smiled at someone. I mean how any club that takes itself serious supposed to respond to that?
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ericofarabia added 13:57 - Jul 17 If Van Dick is so keen for Champions League Football, lets sell him back to Celtic!! 100% chance of CL each season, will still get to play for a complete khunt of a manager and we won't have to give Celtic any resale fee :-) Don't suppose Celtic have got 60 million down the back of the settee though :-(
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StBozo added 13:57 - Jul 17 He smiled at me at the kid's nursery this morning, does this mean his daughter is going to Liverpool too? **Confused**.
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SaintBrock added 14:55 - Jul 17 "The situation IS clear: The Club is taking the matter in a proper manner. They HAVE stated their stance publicly and beyond doubt or any hint for misinterpretation. For Saints to go state every 3 days that they have not changed their position would be demolition. So in this respect our board's behaviour is spot on" Exactly this. Stop sh*t stirring Nick!
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