Chelsea And Manchester City Now Favourites As Saints Stand Firm ! Tuesday, 15th Aug 2017 09:13 Liverpool are no longer seen as the favourites to sign Virgil Van Dijk, at least according to the media who report that he could be on his way to London or Manchester. The strangest thing about this whole sorry transfer saga is that Saints have not received one bid for Virgil Van Dijk throughout the whole summer. The two reasons for this are that firstly everyone in the football world knew that Van Dijk had spoken to Jurgen Klopp and verbally agreed to move to Anfield and that this was a nailed on deal, they knew that because Liverpool had briefed anyone that cared to listen and this was fueled by a plethora of ex Liverpool players who glorified in telling the media that the deal was "close" whilst attempting to up their own media profiles. The second reason was that when Saints went to the Premier League and complained about Liverpool's behaviour and accused them of illegal approaches the Anfield club knew they could be in deep water and their only way of avoiding big trouble and even a transfer embargo placed on them was to completely back off and say they would not pursue Van Dijk. This was done through gritted teeth and with their fingers firmly crossed behind their backs, their plan was to keep pressing away and grind down Saints to offer them the player. Than meant they couldn't make a formal bid, this deal had to be forced through and the only man who could do that was the player himself, all around the club spoke well of Van Dijk up to recently, he was seen as a polite level headed man, soe will say that his head has been turned by his agent and his persistence in trying to get this move done, that has some truth, but Van Dijk is an adult, he could have turned round and said "No this is wrong" Meanwhile the likes of Chelsea and City didn't bother themselves with bidding for Van Dijk, it was seen as being no point in doing so, the player only wanted to go to Liverpool because they were offering far more than anyone else was prepared to offer in wages etc, the bush telegraph was buzzing and everyone knew what was going on. It was seen as only a matter of time before little Southampton backed down, after all they were a selling club weren't they, a club that sold a player at the first decent offer ! People forgot though that Schneiderlin, Wanyama & Fonte were all blocked from moving just because they demanded it, the last three years had taught Saints harsh lessons and with every summer they were more savvy about locking in players to long term deals and giving themselves the uper hand. Suddenly Liverpool and Van Dijk were getting more desperate by the week, what they thought was a formality turned out to be far from the case and it started to become clear that Saints would not be bullied and were prepared to let the player "rot in the stands" if neccessary. Meanwhile Chelsea and Manchester City and indeed perhaps another big club or two were watching with interest, they realised that this situation was now one where Saints might be prepared to cash in their chips and count their profit, but it would be to anyone but Liverpool on princible. Saints were in a corner that they could now not back down on without losing face, there were now only two outcomes, Saints stayed true to their principles whatever the consequences or an escape route had to be found. Now it seems that Chelsea and Manchester City might be that option for Saints, they have dug in and shown Liverpool they can't be messed with, they have proved their point, but at the end of it all, they still have to do what is best, with Van Dijk turning out to be a man of litte morals, it seems unlikely he will realise and appreciate what Saints have done for him and knuckle down and a solution needs to be found. Therefore a sale to anyone but Liverpool would be good out, Saints supporters would accept this, they would see it as a battle won and that £70 million would be better for the squad in the long run than Van Dijk. Therefore Chelsea seem ready to move and a player exchange deal could be the answer with Andreas Christensen forming part of that deal, therefore solving a problem for Saints at th same time. Transfer windows are slow, but it could move fast now as we get into the final fortnight and we could see some incoming players along with one notable departure. The main sticking point though might be Van Dijk, he has shown he has scant regard for his playing career above financial gain in this saga, he already has put Dutch qualification for the World Cup at risk by refusing to be considered for team selection and lets be blunt here and this seems to be a new phenomenon, Van Dijk and for that matter Coutinho etc are not refusing to play or train they merely have good excuses as to why they can't at relevant moments, sudden headaches and virus's are all the rage in your want away multi millionaire footballer these days. Van Dijk seems happy to throw away this season, perhaps one that with a World Cup at the end of it would be his pivotal one, all for the sake of a big pay day, no thought that another good season for Saints followed by a World Cup Finals tournament would see his profile skyrocket and perhaps the likes of Barcelona interested, no the only skyrocket he is interested in is the one in his trousers where he keeps his wallet. So perhaps the end is in sight, this transfer window has been a sad one for the future of football, it has been one where the culture of the spoilt brat footballer has upped its game several notches and certain players see themselves above the law. Photo: Action Images Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
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