It might not seem like it to Saints fans after the latest display of petulance from Virgil Van Dijk, but one Saints legend thinks that the tide is tuning Saints way.

Saints fans are fed up of looking at the internet. picking up the paper and reading social media headlines of how Virgil Van Dijk is certain to sign for Liverpool despite the little matter that he has a contract with Southampton FC, however Matt Le Tissier thinks that the pendulum is swinging in Saints direction as he told Talksport this morning.

Speaking on the Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast, Le Tissier said: “It’s been going on long enough, and he’s still here!

“He still wants to be on his own…and to be honest, that’s pretty unprofessional.

“He’s got four and a half weeks [until the end of the transfer window], but the club have been pretty insistent so far that he signed a five year contract and he’s going nowhere.

"If players have all the power, he would have gone by now — but it’s all rumbled on for a few weeks now and he hasn’t got his own way.

"Perhaps the tide might be turning a little bit. The fact a lot of clubs now are in a much healthier financial position means the power might just be shifting back to clubs if they want to dig their heels in.

"They’ve got the money, they’re not desperate to bag the £60million it would take to get him away from the club, and if Southampton feel like they want to make a stand with Van Dijk, they can.

“It’s a shame. It doesn’t look very good on the player, he’s got five years left and the only way he can be sold is if the club accept an offer for him — that hasn’t happened, so you have to get on with your job.

“I find it pretty distasteful when players start players start refusing to play for clubs when they’re paid very good money to be there.”

A very blunt and accurate description of what is becoming a sorry situation at St Mary's from a club legend who knows the meaning of loyalty.

The main message though was that if Saints had caved in to his demands then he would have been gone weeks ago and that with every day or week that goes by the player and especially Liverpool will become more desperate.

It is appalling that the player won't go as far as putting in a transfer request as as much as he would like to go to Anfield, at this moment in time he doesn't want to give up £7 million to do so.

Liverpool's behaviour is also appalling they are clearly speaking to the player and his agent behind the backs of Saints otherwise how would van Dijk know that anyone is actually interested in him, let be blunt, he would not be just demanding a move in the hope that someone comes in for him.

Liverpool will not bid at least at this stage as they will be worried that the FA and Premier League might step in and they are extremely worried about being hit by transfer sanctions, that is perhaps why they are getting the player to do their dirty work and try to force a move at the expense of his reputation, Liverpool will at least want to get near the end of the trasfer business and get other signings in rather than be sanctioned now whilst they still need to bring in players.

So this looks set to run and run at least till the end of the month and it does not look like being a happy ending, the only people coming out of this with credit are Southampton Football Club who have done nothing wrong in merely demanding that a player that they are paying extremely well fulfills his contract, they are refraining from getting involved and keeping their own counsel, at the moment they are handling Van Dijk with kid gloves, leaving the way open for a return to the fold, but their will come a time when they will play hardball.

When they do that most of football will want them to stand up strong, even if Van Dijk was to stay at St Marys and go on strike, his value would not drop too much between now and January, what would drop though would be his reputation and many big clubs would shy away and not want to touch him with a bargepole.

He will also not be very popular in Holland who face a do or die World Cup Qualifyer in the first week of September, they would have been hoping that Van Dijk would have had plenty of training and match practice between now and then, that looks highly unlikely and he could cost Holland qualification for the World Cup, possibly his only opportunity to play at one given his age when the 2022 finals come around.

But sadly this has been driven by money and a player who was once described by many as polite and courteous is now driven by his agent who being close to Liverpool Football Club is determined to get his client not into the best club in Europe, but into one that will reward both player and especially his agent the most handsomely.

Photo: Action Images

RogerToye added 15:01 - Aug 2 Hope all can learn from the Lovern lesson
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SanMarco added 15:02 - Aug 2 Yes. Good article. Four and a half weeks is a big test of nerves for Les and Co. I think, sadly, that many of us want rid of VVD now but it must be totally on our terms and after a transfer request. What I would be telling him today would be: transfer request + bid of 70m plus is the only way you will not still be a Saints player on 1 September.
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landerwal added 15:47 - Aug 2 Cruyff, Van Basten, Van Persie, Hullit and the whole Dutch National team have acted the same way as VVD at one time or another. Seems it's a Dutch trait. They mainly got their way..If Le Tiss is right and I would imagine he still has strong contacts in the know within the club, the board need to hold their nerve. Southampton have done nothing wrong during this whole affair, they have merely held a player to his contract. If after four and a half weeks he still won't play, stop his pay and suspend him as he will be breaking his contract.

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ChristchurchSaint added 16:12 - Aug 2 Agree with San Marco- tell him to put in a transfer request, get the bid of £60 mill + BUT, also insist on a 10% sell on, because I have a feeling that VVD could do the same thing next year when Barca come calling.
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helpineedsomebody added 16:26 - Aug 2 complete respect from me if southampton fc hold there nerve it will change the signing of contracts forever
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SNAILOB added 16:37 - Aug 2 Shouldn't be allowed to go anywhere until he puts in an actual transfer request. Sickens me that players & agents today want to have their cake and eat it. Was never a big fan of Rupert Lowe, but admired the way he handled a similar situation with Dean Richards to Spurs. Told them what we wanted to clear in the deal and if Richards wanted his ten percent, either Spurs paid him or they paid our fee plus ten percent. Same stance should be taken with VVD

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SaintPaulVW added 16:37 - Aug 2 This is all a bit of a distraction. Just issue a final statement that he's going nowhere. Then stick him on 'gardening' leave for 5 weeks or until he comes to his senses. Once the transfer windows shut it's all over. It's not ideal but he'll then have to show his ability to earn a transfer and the point is made to both him and others.
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Sanguin added 16:44 - Aug 2 He’s been ordered to train alone rather than with the rest of the team, he’s not necessarily refusing to play. But the difference is moot. What I don’t understand is why if he’s still telling them he wants to join Liverpool, he doesn’t man up and put a transfer request in. There must be a way for him to kick up more of a fuss than he has already. It suggests to me that his conviction to move isn’t that strong, or he realises that putting a transfer request in won’t guarantee him the move to Liverpool that he desires. With each day that passes, I’m increasingly confident that he will not join Liverpool.

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mattlegod added 17:31 - Aug 2 About time the FA took action on these situations where a player affectively strikes for gain, there should be large files and bans to stop them doing it.
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mattlegod added 17:32 - Aug 2 Fines not files!
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corkcitysaint added 18:51 - Aug 2 VVD in my opinion, is a total disgrace and immature. He has gone from a fans hero to a zero because of his greed and secret meetings etc. I would love to throw him out the door for the disrespect he has shown to all at SFC.But that would be exactly what he and Liverpool want. I would keep him in the club and have him respect his contract terms. Why? The club has to draw a line in the sand. Previous windows, we have had to sell as players had a year or so only left on their contracts and we were not in a strong enough position. this situation with VVD is different. We don't have to sell our "captain". For me, the only solution would be we make a couple of centre back signings in the meantime (1 needed to replace Fonte anyway) VVD hands in a transfer request (losing him his bonus), we sell to someone (likely L'pool) at the last minute and we still make a profit on the deal. The only way the club can back down in any way is by VVD handing a transfer request. I don't want a guy around SFC that couldn't give two f's about our club but it has to be on our terms.

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AmericanSaint added 20:14 - Aug 2 This will be a circus until he hands in a transfer request. His agent is telling him to act like a 3yr old and SFC will cave. This way the agent and he get their bonus. I think there is a lot of backroom chatter about what to do with him since the sale to the Chinese is not complete. If SFC will not make him sit on the sidelines and fester, then I think they need to go by Hoedt and Wimmer and then at the last week of the transfer window let it be know that SFC will entertain offers. THEN even at a lower price, they should sell VVD to anyone but Liverpool. That would send a message through out the EPL, don't f- with SFC. Just a thought.

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Justin33 added 20:22 - Aug 2 I'm so sick of this news of vvd!! Sell him to a championship team for what we bought him for with 80% sell on clause with fine print non compete clause for any premier league team and if clause broken said championship team pays saints a fee of 60 million compensation.
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Justin33 added 20:29 - Aug 2 So sick of reading news about Liverpool talking sh*t. Put up or shut up. Sell vvd to any team other than Liverpool or just loan him out to a division 1 type team in a country like Mongoli for 5 years. End of story.
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Justin33 added 20:29 - Aug 2 Mongolia
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Simon07 added 10:38 - Aug 3 First time posting, agree with all you. Liverpool and their so called scum ex players are playing with VVD's head. Saints need to the do the follow and end this saga. A) impose an SFC ban for two years on selling any players to Liverpool. B) Tell VVD to get his ass back to training or suspend him without pay. His not a 6 year old kid but a 26 year old man. C) Make it very clear to VVD, the club are not selling any players to Liverpool period. SFC need to send a very clear message and end this saga once and for all. Question is does Les and Ralph have what it takes to do that?

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