What Now For Virgil Van Dijk ! Friday, 1st Sep 2017 10:30 Despite all the underhand dealings and media claims, Virgil Van Dijk is still a Saints player, at least for the next four months, so what will happen next in this sorry saga. Even Liverpool fans were a little dismayed at the way the Virgil Van Dijk transfer saga unravelled, if you read internet message boards the armchair Liverpool fans were up in arms that little Southampton would not simply hand the players registration over to their club, but the Liverpool fan who follows his team home and away and lives in Aintree or Bootle was horrified at the situation, perhaps even more so as his own club had had the tables turned on them with Phillipe Coutinho. But now the dust is settling what next for Virgil Van Dijk ? This site was told by sources close to the club on Tuesday, that the club would remain firm and that the player had been told this, that he had been given time off from Thursday and would be expected to return to first team training on Monday morning. This turned out to be true, but the question now is that although he will not like it will Van Dijk lump it and knuckle down and give his all for Saints ? On the face of it it looks an impossible ask, after all this is a player who has secretly held talks with Liverpool, told his club he wants to leave, handed in a transfer request and reportably informed them he was not in the right mind to play or train for them or far worse depending on which version you believe. But the good news is that he would not be the first player to have done similar and be rehabilitated back into his club, indeed ironically it was Luis Suarez and Liverpool a few years ago that had an even worse situation develop, yet Suarez returned, had his best season with Liverpool and instead of joining Arsenal as was mooted went to Barcelona, perhaps that a lesson for our Virgil. So has Van Dijk gone on his mini break with a positive attititude ready for his return or is he seething with frustration and determined never to play for the club again, we will find out in the next couple of weeks, but what are the options. The first is obviously that he returns, realises that it is pointless sulking and gives his all in his quest to earn that move to an "Elite Club" either in January or next summer, certainly it will do him no good in terms of contract, salary etc if he goes through the motions, a really good season(1/2) for Saints could earn him a dream move. The second is that he returns to training, sulks, goes through the motions, puts in substandard performances in order to persuade Saints to let him go in January, sadly you suspect that this is the course of action that his agent and Liverpool football Club will be advising. The third option is to continue as before, train with the academy team and bring in a sick note from his Mum every weekend saying can Virgil be excused from games because he has a cold. We all hope that he chooses the first option, that he sees the benefits of getting fit and his career back on track and perhaps realises that Saints have done nothing wrong and perhaps he does owe them something. If he goes for that then there are still several hurdles to overcome. The first is his team mates, football is a squad game, it has a gang mentality, clubs build up a team spirit and a we are all in it together attitude in a squad, whilst his team mates will feel some empathy towards him, they will also feel some resentment that he has let them his mates down by his behaviour, that if he had just got on with it as 99.9 % of players do in his situation, that it would not have changed the chances of a transfer one iota except perhaps improving them, but it might have benefitted his team mates who could still be in the League Cup and might have had a few more bob in their pocket from win bonuses. The early indications are that the squad will welcome him back, although I'm sure their will be a cross section of views held but mainly kept private, so this should not be a major hurdle. The second is fitness, by all accounts he has kept fit, he has trained with the academy squad, although this is not at the intensity that the first team group would train, so he will not be as fit as he would have been remaining with them over the past six weeks. However his level should be such that it would not take more than a couple of weeks to get to the edge of peak fitness, however that is not match fitness and he would need to fit in a game or two for the academy before getting into first team contention. This being the case he could be in line for a first team recall as early as the Crystal Palace game or failing that Manchester United, although there are reasons why the club would prefer him to return in an away game rather than at St Mary's as I shall get to. The final hurdle is perhaps the most difficult as that is the reaction of the supporters and how they will welcome him back, referring back to Suarez at Liverpool, their fans accepted that booing him benefitted no one, that it was better to accept him back into the fold albeit the love felt before was not the same and use him for the good of the the club. That resulted in a happy ending to the saga there, well almost, Suarez had a great season, was top scorer in the Premier League, Player of the year and Liverpool finished 2nd, their best showing in years. The fans respected Suarez for his efforts even if they no longer were totally in love with him for what he had done the previous summer, Liverpool received a massive fee, bigger than what they would have got 12 months earlier and the player went to one of the World's top club on more money than he would have got a year earlier. It all turned out for the best for all parties. Saints fans have to take this course of action, they have to if not exactly welcome him back, not give him a hostile reception, we need to think about what we want for Southampton Football Club ?, do we want success and good performances that will get us another top 8 finish and perhaps even higher that will bring European football again, or do we want the next few months to be a pantomime with Van Dijk the villain who we boo at every turn. This is why the club would prefer any return to first team action to be away from home, the pressure from his own fans will be a lot less, whereas at St Mary's, even if he takes to the pitch virtually unabused, any small error will get the fans on his back. We as supporters have to show that we are bigger than anyone player, although our relationship has changed with him and will never be the same, we want what is best for Southampton Football Club overall, not just to satisfy our own bloodlust. The Saints supporters are perhaps key in what happens next, we need to use this as a catalyst to spark the season, create a siege mentality and spur the players on, if Van Dijk returns to our defence and plays well we are a better team and if we finished 8th last season with the issues and the manager we had, we can do far better with him in the team. Yes perhaps it is only a stay of execution and he will move in January, but I would rather him move with a few extra points perhaps in the bag and a few extra £'s on his transfer fee. If we abuse him it will drag the team and the squad down, do we really want that ? So the next week will be crucial, we will get an idea of what Van Dijk himself is going to do, that will not be very public, but the following fortnight after than will be, especially when the player steps onto the pitch again. For Saints this has been a landmark moment, they have shown their fans that they are not a selling club, the strategy over the last three years has led to this, we have a strong squad, strong backing now in place with a new major shareholder and we no longer doff our cap to the so called big clubs. This situation was not of the clubs making, they have done what they said they would, now the fans need to respond. Finally Virgil Van Dijk would be very wise to read this little quotation and take heed. "If you chase money you will never catch it ! If you chase success then money will come to you !" I suspect that this is something that Van Dijk's agent Rob Jansen has never read or if he did never understood and is not the company mission statement of his company the Wasserman Group. So what are your thoughts on the situation ? comment in the section underneath and vote in our online poll using the link provided below. https://www.fansnetwork.co.uk/football/southampton/forum/208327/will-you-welcome Photo: Action Images Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
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