£15M!!! Yikes, he is nowhere near that good...

Also saw that Liverpool have been linked with a joint bid for VVD and McQueen for £40M....lets hope bullsh*t talks..

The link to yet another wide player pales into insignificance when put against the rumours about a move to acquire VVD and McQueen in the January transfer window by Liverhampton. I have been a defender of the board in their transfer dealings but this is a step too far. If these transfers were to go ahead, it would mean the a Liverpool team would contain 6 ex Southampton outfield players. That would be unprecedented in the history of English footbal that one team was fielding so many players transfered from anotherl. We would be a mere feeder team for Liverpool and makes a mockery of our motto which should now be "Saints marching on, turning round and marching back". I am seriously thinking of not renewing my season ticket and supporting Saints from afar. The northern Saints of course, as they are the ones who are going to have any success in the future.

".....the likes of Liverpool opting for a similar structure..." Their success has nothing to do with structure and everything to do with buying the best players from teams stupid enough to sell them!

Until now, I have supported the club in selling so many of its best players, because it has been able to replace them with even better players. All the money raised has been reinvested in the squad (transfer fees plus wages), so it has been in our interests to buy and improve players like Lovren, Clyne etc and then sell them for much higher fees. That is how we have improved the squad so much.

However, if we sell VVD to Liverpool I will be extremely upset. He is the best defender that has ever played for the Saints, and we cannot replace him. We have already hugely boosted Liverpool by selling Mane fairly cheaply to them. Both Mane and VVD are among the top players in the world in their positions -- to let the same club get hold of both of them from us is just ridiculous. Anyone who thinks that Redmond is an adequate replacement for Mane cannot have been paying attention last Saturday.

I absolutely hate the way that Liverpool, who have never won the Premier League, think they are "entitled" to our players because they are such a "big" club. This has to be stopped, right now.

I know what i am about to say is not gospel , but i thin k that the chances of VVD and/or McQueen going this January is negligible.

I would love to say "zero" but the club's tendency to sell players over the recent years (for good or bad) always leaves you with that sense that anything is possible! However, i am relying on a number of factors:

- The Club have recently embarked on signing up a load of key players on long term deals. VVD is one of those. Some might say that is to ensure we get top dollar, whilst others believe that is the sign of a new strategy of securing talent for longer. Personally i think it is somewhere between the two. By offering such long contracts, Saints must have communicated to the player that they are part of long term plans - which the player must have committed to as well. With that comes an express and implied understanding that Saints will not just part with the player at the sight of a little bit of money. OK, if a team comes in and makes a ridiciulous offer, then fair dues - but the length of the contract (6 years) means it has to be off the scale. For VVD it must be somewhere along the lines of £60m.

- What tips it for me is that it feels this is a 'lesson learnt' from the Clyne/Wanyama affairs, where we had very little bargaining chips given players were moving into last year of contract. Having longer contracts means Saints can start negotiations earlier and out of the glare of the media/tapping up of other clubs who are looking for a bargain due to impending contract expiry (cough cough - Spurs!). Players who refuse/delay in contract negotiations may find themselves 'out of favour' whilst still having 2-3 years to serve (rather than seeing out one more season). I should caveat that against Sam McQueen as he coming to the end of his contract, but VVD is more certain in this factor.

- Agent talk. Less about VVD and more about McQueen for the reasons above: his contract is coming to an end and he may well be asking his agent to bump up pressure on Saints to offer an improved deal.

- Timing. January window? The period of inflated fees and knee-jerk signings! Nobody does serious business then unless they are mega desperate and mega rich. Now Liverpool may be the latter, whilst Manure feel like both, but they will have to convince Boards that they must part with lots and lots of cash. As such, the 'news' that Liverpool are tabling a £40m bid for not one but two Saints players in January sounds like utter nonsense. As I say above, VVD is likely to be valued higher than that in the summer!

- Timing (2): Equally, Saints are not going to want to lose VVD or McQueen halfway through a demanding season.

- History. Alas Saints now have a reputation (rightly or wrongly) for selling players. To Liverpool. We have a world class defender. Liverpool apparently need one (or two). The tabloid journalist doesn't even have get out of bed to file that copy..

- Outrage! Whilst Saints may not communicate openly about transfer dealings, they will know about the nervousness they have caused by selling players for whatever reason. Whilst the selling has largely been to positive effect, even Saints must know that, if they sold VVD to Liverpool in the January window, they would have a Fan mutiny on their hands! If they value their fanbase, they would think twice. It would also do nothing for dispelling the 'selling club' status either.

That last two points is quite a poignant one - as i think Saints need to do more now to manage the perception of the club.

Oh dear, this player's CV has a dreadful similarity to that of player from a former PL club that was in relegation trouble and look how that has turned out.

What has been really discouraging of late has been the absence of the owner from many home games and the lack of geeing up rhetoric from Ralph Krueger. Taken together this must have some significance and this lack of leadership for whatever reasons must be noticeable throughout the club. Have they become de-mod happy?

Can it be co-incidence also that Jose has become so stroppy of late and Virgil so sulky? That joint interview after the match on Saturday was a shocker surely even to the most complacent of fans. OK, maybe they are just two alpha-male rutting stags locking horns over the leadership role in the team or perhaps not and some jealousy is at play. As many have suggested maybe they are just fed up being over-worked by an under-performing midfield and an inept attack.

Or maybe it is a bit deeper than any of that, that they too have become uneasy about a perceived lack of committed leadership from the board recently and conclude that their futures are brighter elsewhere. After all it is the natural leaders who will pick up these things first.

VVD will not leave in January and it is highly unlikely McQueen will be allowed to leave at all. A club that promotes the virtues of its youth policy and the skills of its Academy just cannot allow on elf its brightest graduates of recent years to leave so soon after graduating to the PL. According to all the Big Voices at SFC "Its who we are, its what we do". VVD is not one of our own and will soon pass through on his journey to the promised land but not quite yet.

The thing that really riles me is that when a bid comes in-that's it-it's a done deal.

You never see the Saints saying "Hands off" or "We're not selling".

On top of that, if they are determined to sell, why not take bids from other teams? You can't tell me that ManU, City, Arsenal, etc. were not interested in an electrifying player like Mane who was a proven scorer in the Prem! If they want to maximize profits, why not go to the other teams and say, "Hey, the Scouse made us this offer, do you want to bid higher? or have him play against you?"

If this rumour is true (which unfortunately with us they usually always are!) then the board is telling the fans "Just support the Scouse or another big team because you are throwing away your money on a minor league team that will never achieve anything and isn't bothered with trying!"

Not super keen. I think if we can get him for 5-10 million he'd make a good rotation player. We need to prioritise a striker. If we can find a respectable alternative to Sturridge that would be great!

I think we should test Chelsea's nerves by bidding for Michy Batshuayi in January. Maybe try him out to loan with the option to buy.

We've got to lose this reputation that we're a selling club quickly. No other fans have to put up with this constant speculation. A few observations on the players mentioned:
VVD is too good for Liverpool; when he goes he will go to one of the continental giants/SMcQ should sign a new deal with us because it's the best place for him to progress/Barrow has scored 1 goal for Swansea in all his time there; he's not what we're looking for.

No to Barrow - unless we swap him for Redmond I suppose.

VVD will go in the summer and probably/hopefully to one of the Spanish giants. Any more sales to Liverpool would be farcical. If the player wants to go he will go but we will have some say over where. The constant sales of our best players may be largely unavoidable (victim of our own success etc) but they are hugely dispiriting and it means we are always rebuilding and in 'transition'. That word transition means going somewhere and do those in charge of our club actually know where we are going?

Saintsnutcase.

At the risk of showing my advancing years I would point out that arguably the Saints have had better defenders than VVD. Nicholl, Watson and in particular one Mr Mark Wright immediately come to mind. The latter was on the verge of a trip to the World Cup with England before a collision with Peter Shilton during an F A cup semi final at White Hart Lane broke Mark's leg. Oddly enough he went on to also play for Liverpool although in truth he never appeared to fully recover from the injury to regain the form he showed when playing for us.

​Liverpool look set to offer Daniel Sturridge in a huge £40m swap deal for Southampton pair Virgil van Dijk and Sam McQueen, according to ​reports.

Sturridge, 27, has seen himself fall down the pecking order under Jürgen Klopp this season, after failing to impress since his return from injury.
I hope this doesn't happen

Really? Redmond Boufal and tadic aren't enough!
Here is an idea....find a quality striker and pay what it takes