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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.



REEDYREEDOREEDZ added 10:49 - Sep 1
Yep, Saints fans need to welcome him back. Shouting abuse at him isn't going to help anyone. He's a top player and we're better with him in the team. I expect the club have told him he can go next summer, like they did with Schniederlin and Wanyama. So Van Dyke needs to have the best season of his career in order to get the best move he can. He's capable of playing for one of the very best teams in Europe; PSG, Real, Juve, Bayern, Barca. If he has an amazing season then maybe one of them will come in for him next summer. That's what his mindset needs to be. If Saints can finish top 8 again then that's a good achievement considering our attacking players (bar gabbiadini) are not as good as previous years.
6

Sanguin added 10:49 - Sep 1
I think Wanyama is an example of a player who phoned it in for a season rather than knuckling down. It’s hard to argue that his final season with Saints wasn’t his worst and the 3 red cards he picked up definitely cost us points.

I hope VVD does knuckle down and put in a good showing. I’m glad we’ve held on to him for the message it sends. But I’m not looking forward to all of this unsettling disruption happening again in January.
5

LordDZLucan added 11:11 - Sep 1
I wonder what would happen if Barcelone offered £75m for him today?
6

SanMarco added 11:21 - Sep 1
The club have gained a lot of kudos with the fans for (finally) doing this.

It is up to VVD now. The major thing he did wrong was the secret meetings and whatever role he played in the rumours. I don't need an apology from him. He needs to get back into the first team, play well and of course he will then get his move - if he goes to an English club we can then abuse him twice a year to our hearts' content. To boo him while he is in a Saints shirt is definitely nose, cut. spite, face territory.

What will happen/have happened is the 'understanding' between the club and the player about when he can go. I hope it has been clearly agreed because this nonsense again (and let's face it the rumours for January will be starting very soon) in the coming months will be extremely unhelpful. Indeed this whole sorry saga has meant the fact we didn't buy an attacking player has been largely ignored.

At least after last night VVD can stop worrying about the World Cup!!
3

SanMarco added 11:23 - Sep 1
Yes - Lord Lucan, I meant to raise that: "Sell" would be the cry from the San Marco computer chair.

Why does Spain finish later anyway???
1

landerwal added 11:39 - Sep 1
If VVD doesn't knuckle down then we now have enough CB's for him to stay on the bench. His loss. However, his agent has put a huge amount of time and money into engineering a transfer that never happened. If Van Dijk slips out of the footballing limelight, his value will tumble and a much lower transfer, would cost the Wasserman group millions plus a lot of wasted effort over this summer.
2

WanderingSaint added 11:55 - Sep 1
IF he gets back in the side, I don't think even Saints fans would hurl abuse at him. What concerns me more is if and when he makes a mistake, what will the crowd reaction be then, when tension and emotions are high? How will he react to the crowd reaction?

18/11/2017 will be a very interesting day - he should be fit by then.
1

SalisburySaint added 12:00 - Sep 1
will have to see how VVD reacts now, but hope he follows the examples of Wanyama and Schneiderlin who the club made stay for an extra season and apart form Victor getting sent off too many times generally played well during that period
0

skiptonsaint added 13:01 - Sep 1
He needs to be careful with his performances. If he phones it in and we ship a few goals can he be sure that the big clubs might think he is not the same player since the injury ? And then not get anywhere near our valuation in jan ?

Proving post injury he is still the same player is what makes this different to Morgan , Vic situations
2

helpineedsomebody added 13:21 - Sep 1
1st game he plays liverpool away

RESPECT FOR SOUTHAMPTON FOOTBALL CLUB
0

OhBlox added 13:42 - Sep 1
Personally i don't see the injury as being a significant factor in his performances moving forwards. Being a great defender is mostly about making the right decisions and is not so dependent on speed or other attributes that a striker for example might depend on.
Whats key here is his state of mind. We all know he is a great player, he knows he is a great player, he now needs to prove this again to the world and everything will follow that.
So the best course of action for him and coincidentally for Saints is to commit to producing the best season in his career to date.
So Virgil what's your play from here?
1

highfield49 added 14:08 - Sep 1
Having donned my anorak and looked up the FIFA transfer regulations it seems as though vvd can't buy out of his lengthy contract unless it has run for three years, there is a "protected period" written into all contracts to protect both parties. Equally, termination of his contract has to be agreed by club and player so he can't just walk away, he needs an International Transfer Certificate to join another club otherwise he can't play. So, assuming Saints aren't willing to let him go, he has little choice but to play or risk sanctions for breach of contract. As pointed out by several other posters, the risk is that he sulks and puts in somewhat less than 100% effort. The prospect of another Oswaldo on the club's hands is a reality if this situation isn't resolved very quickly and perhaps the best solution is to agree either a deal now for a transfer next summer or a player exchange plus cash deal in January. If Thomas Vermaelen is still available wouldn't we be better off doing a loan deal each way with Barcelona before the deadline today or is that not allowed once the window closes in England?
0

Big_T added 14:10 - Sep 1
I am for one pleased that Virgil is still here, I said in December last year that he would still be here this season, to many howls of derision. It was a bit touch and go and a bit bumpy but I won my bet !
£50 better off for a £1 bet when the liverpoo echo announced he had signed for them.
This transfer window will hopefully be a wake up call to players and their scummy agents that contracts are in fact written and signed and binding.
21 games into a six year contract and trying to engineer a move is downright disrespectful and just plain wrong !
4

aceofthebase added 16:36 - Sep 1
It's important that now he is back training with the big boys and be made available for selection. We must not let him hide away doing his own thing and if he refuses to play, which I understand has never been the case then further actions can be taken. MP must tell him he is to train and be prepared to be selected and play.

He is a class player and I will cheer him loudly when he returns but I can hear the Song/chant " You can't always get what you want!"
1

IanRC added 21:19 - Sep 1
A lot of good common sense, although given how some on here abuse loyal players, I wonder if that common sense will be applied by them. On a separate but related note wasn't there a story that he had changed his agent again towards the end of the transfer window as he was disillusioned with those shysters known as the Wasserman Group.
0

Big_T added 23:39 - Sep 1
Reply to IanRC
I think he is still with the same company but with a different agent, it is probably something to do with the meetings held with liverpoo . maybe if that agent is still involved it can be linked to the tapping up . So penalties could follow a deal, but with a new agent(same company ) it's viewed as a new negotiation ?
0

SaintBrock added 10:48 - Sep 2
Shouldn't we rename this website "The Virgin van Dijk Show"

Trouble is too many repeats so time to change channels1
0

sambat added 15:33 - Sep 2
Saints need to put a ridiculous price on VVD, so when the scouters come back in January they will walk away - the same as they did for Coutinho. £150M should do it.....
0


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