If Saints fans thought that the pusuit of Virgil Van Dijk was over by Liverpool when they publicly apologised and announced they would not continue to chase him, it seems they are wrong.
A plethora of stories is appearing in the media this weekend suggesting that Virgil Van Dijk is about to tray and force a move to Anfield by putting in a transfer request to Saints.
Perhaps the most telling report though is in the Liverpool Echo, a paper that naturally is very close to Liverpool football club and knowing how local papers work with football clubs, the Liverpool Echo will be very well briefed on any story surrounding the club and would not print a story without speaking to the club, ascertaining it's authenticiy and indeed the club's blessing.
As we saw a few weeks ago the Liverpool Echo and other media outlets both local to Anfield and national were well briefed to manipulate the situation.
But what the Liverpool Echo is saying today is simply shocking and brazen.
They firstly start by claiming that Virgil Van Dijk has told Southampton FC that he will ONLY move to Liverpool and no other club !
I'm not sure what they are trying to achieve here, we are not in a hurry to sell so that helps us that he does not want to go to Chelsea or Manchester City.
They then go on to say.
"A club statement in June expressed the club's regret over speculation surrounding the player's future and apologised for "any misunderstanding regarding Virgil van Dijk” - just 24 hours after the centre-back seemed set for Merseyside."
"But after the Premier League failed to act on Southampton's threat of reporting the Reds for an alleged illegal approach, there is a suggestion Liverpool could be open to negotiating a deal."
"Though their next move is unclear, with the South Coast club wanting £75million for their star man, the People suggest van Dijk wants to push through the move he initially thought he would receive this summer."
That is almost claiming that the Premier League's failure to act has lead Liverpool to believe that they can do what they want !
The Liverpool Echo are clearly being briefed by someone close to the player or the club, if they are not then why would they print unsubstantiated stories, that would only lead to a breakdown in relationship with Liverpool who would be worried that the paper was potentially putting them in further trouble with the Premier League.
The story is not exclusive to the Liverpool Echo, plenty of national media outlets have also carried it, suggesting that this is an orchestrated campaign as was waged earlier this summer.
The big question is just why Liverpool FC or indeed whoever is behind the media briefing feel the need to do so.
The situation is now black and white, Saints have told Van Dijk that he is not for sale and that they want him to continue to honour his contract at least for the next season, this in not unreasonable especially given that due to his injury he has not given Saints a full two seasons yet and was happy to sign a new deal only a year ago.
That means that there are only two options open to Van Dijk, he either stays or if he wants to move then he needs to put in a transfer request and push the point.
Players are loathe to do this as if they are sold without a transfer request being submitted then they are entitled to 10% of the transfer fee, if they put in a request then they lose that right.
That means few transfer requests are subitted these days and when you see a club demand a player do so, you know the situation is partcularly fraught and this is the last act of retribution by the club who is definately not leaving on a cordial note with his soon to beformer employers.
So why would Liverpool or perhaps the players agent, feel the need to launch this latest campaign.
The only answer is that this is at best a last attempt to try and force Saints into a sale without a transfer request, or at worst trying to push the player into doing so and manipulate the situation.
Perhaps Van Dijk is not willing to put in that request, perhaps although yes he would like to join Liverpool, after all it would be much more money and a chance to challenge for honours both in the Premier and Campions League, none of which he will be able to achieve at Saints, but he is willing to accept he needs to stay another year, something that will not please either Liverpool or his agent.
As I say all parties know where the situation is at, there is only one road to go down now if Van Dijk wants to go to Liverpool, why would the Anfield Club be willing to risk the Premier League stepping in again if Van Dijk was willing to put in that request, they could just sit back and wait for it to happen and then plead innocence as to any illegal approach or trying to unsettle the player.
Desperate times call for desperate measures I'm afraid and someone is very desperate for this deal to happen, if it was Virgil Van Dijk then surely he would have stopped "Telling" Saints he want to go to Anfield and the transfer request would already be on Les Reed's desk.