It cannot be argued that Virgil Van Dijk was crucial to Saints success over the past two years, but that was ruined when he showed his true colours and disgraced the name of his profession back in the summer.

Over the years football has had it's fair share of players who have blemished the name of the game, indeed Saints themselves have had a few we would care to forget for their behaviour and disregard not only for the club but their profession itself.

Now I am not one of these who demands that footballlers be squeaky clean role models and spend all their time doing charity work, but there is a certain standard required of players even in these times and that is to fulfill the terms and conditions of your contract.

The problem is that football in the past 25 years has started to breed a type of player who cares not for the football club he plays for, but only satisfying his own greed and lust for adoration, you only have to watch TV footage of todays Premier League player getting off a team bus, you rarely these days see friendly characters engaging with fans,you see spoilt brats with headphones on clutching washbags that they are staring at with enormous interest to avoid actually having to come into contact with those who make their lifestyles possible.

Virgil Van Dijk was the very image of this, if he did have to scribble the odd autograph, no interaction with the young starstruck fan who had asked for it, only a blank staring into space that made you think that in another life he could have been an extra in The Walking Dead.

Not to say that Van Dijk and his numerous colleagues at every other Premier League club are totally to blame for this, in truth they have been bred like dogs, they have been part of one massive puppy farm where they have not been taught to be kind and considerate, but arrogant and selfish, because only those with the most of these traits truly make it to the top, whilst many fall by the wayside and are metaphorically speaking put in a sack and thrown into the nearest river by clubs that have feted them for years until in their late teens they are of no more use.

But what makes Virgil Van Dijk stand out from 99% of his colleagues in football, is that he has failed to realise that he actually has a job to do and whilst he has a contract he has to fulfill it.

There are plenty of players that I dislike or did dislike a lot more than Van Dijk, but they do what they are paid to do and that is play football to the best of their ability for the club that pays them.

This is where Van Dijk fails as both a professional footballer or as a person with a shred of moral fibre in his body.

Ironically Jamie Vardy is probably the most odious man in the Premier League at the moment, ironic because he was the man who ran his studs down the back of Van Dijk's ankle and put him out of the game last season, Vardy is an easy man to hate, but not if you are a Leicester fan as despite being upset when refused a big move he got on with playing for his club and fulfilling his contract.

Six months ago I had nothing against Virgil Van Dijk, I saw him as potentially the best central defender in the Premier League, I knew his time at St Mary's would be relatively short lived from the moment he first pulled on a Saints shirt, all I expected was for him be part of our production line, play well earn a big money move and then we could repeat the process.

But that was not a part of Van Dijk's plan and his behaviour in the second half of this year has been disgraceful, I can understand why he would want to go, but he surely understands the way football works, he was happy to sign a big contract in the summer of 2016, he was happy to pick up those not insignificant wages for six months on the sidelines, so the vilest thing to do was to treat the club that had treated you so well with such contempt.

Van Dijk was not the only player to have the same frustrations about a move, indeed his longed for destination of Liverpool were fighting to keep Coutinho at the same time, the Brazilian as desperate to get out of Anfield last summer as Van Dijkwas to get into it, but compare the performances of both players over the course of this season and there is a big difference.

Indeed there are comparisons to be made at Saints, both Morgan Schneiderlin and Victor Wanyama did not get their moves when they demanded them, but made to stay they put in a decent shift in their last season, no one could accuse them of not trying, however then there is Jose Fonte, perhaps a man with cause to be moregrateful to Saints than anyone else, but once he sniffed the money he changed, with his career in tatters in the name of greed, his biggest headlines are now for his sniping at Southampton Football Club over the treatment of Virgil Van Dijk.

Now I don't blame Liverpool Football Club for signing Van Dijk or for that matter a number of our former players, after all this is football, this is the nature of things, the pecking order if you like, they are perfectly entitled to try and sign who they want, yes last summer they made big mistakes in the way they handled things and the way they behaved, but underneath all that why should they not chase Van Dijk or for that matter any other player, every club does it, even us when we are after a target.

But the worry for Liverpool fans is why Van Dijk has signed for them, he could have had the pick of any club, indeed if he had knuckled down this season for Saints he would have been coveted by the likes of Barcelona and Real Madrid, so why was he so desperate to go to Anfield ?

I like Jurgen Klopp and being of a certain age I was brought up with a Liverpool FC that did things the right way, I know things have changed, but I cannot fathom why Van Dijk was determined to go there.

Van Dijk said all the right things in his statement about both Saints and Liverpool, but the words seemed hollow when referring to both, from our perspective if he wanted to thank us all, then why didn't he do that with actions rather than words in his final months, if he had put in a shift these last three months then we would have waved him off with a little bit of respect at least.

In what he says about Liverpool. it could have been cribbed from Dejan Lovren's speech on arrival on Merseyside, it was so scripted it was cringeworthy, with respect to Liverpool fans and I count many as friends who understand the game and who don't buy this type of BS, these were not honest words and were spookily similar to the ones he uttered 18 months ago when signing a six year deal at St Mary's.

The only question is whether Van Dijk becomes a Liverpool legend or a Liverpool Lovren, if it is the former then will he behave in the same way if Barcelona and th like come a calling ? A leopard does not change his spots.

So good riddance to Virgil Van Dijk, we can do a lot more with £75 million than a 100% committed Virgil Van Dijk, we could do a lot more with even £7.5 million than the embarrassing disgrace of a professional footballer gave us in the last three months.

When Adam Lallana left he broke Saints fans hearts, Van Dijk means nothing like that to us, what he has done has made us a little bit more of our love for the game, not or club, but the way this is now a game of Virgil Van Dijk's and greed and no one of Matthew le Tissier and loyalty !

Photo: Action Images

SanMarco added 14:49 - Dec 28 'not because of this deal' would read better.
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TimSaint added 15:00 - Dec 28 I would have much preferred that we had sold him to City for £60m than to Klopp for £15m more. I does however prove that Liverpool were blatantly lying in their statement when being investigated by the FA over the tapping up allegations, as they said that they had withdrawn their interest in the player and had moved on to other targets. Lets see if the FA now do anything about it and impose that transfer embargo that was hanging over them after they stole that kid from Stoke. VvD is not only right up there in the cvnt stakes with Lallana and Lovren etc, he is top of the lot and perhaps is now at the most deserving of clubs, with the an even bigger cvnt at their helm !! I suggested on another thread that as he is still our player for a few more days, that we play him on Saturday against his new local rivals - would probably put in his best ever Saints performance in the hope that his new employers could catch Man Utd, but actually I think (and indeed hope) he is not the same player he was before he got injured. We didn't get enough for him to buy the players we need though. Keeper, Centre Back, Creative Midfielder, Winger (didn't replace JRod don't forget) and Striker !! Think we will make 2 signings tops and perhaps one loan.

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Jesus_02 added 15:19 - Dec 28 Im not sure that this is great business TBH. £75m is obviously far too much for any player but if Kyle Walker is £50m the £75 is probably about right for the best AVAILABLE CB in the league if not Europe. Also its not £75m either - £5m add-ons and we will have to wait to see the details of the deal to see how much of the deal is considered "a big upfront payment". Other than that we have turned into DFS! Good business is Liverpool managing to get £10m for Lovren. They can do this because they have the sort of selling profile that we had for a very brief moment before we started selling everyone we possibly could. Compare Lovren to Yoshida, I know he gets stick but most saints fans would prefer to have Yoshi in defence, and while he makes mistakes does he make more than Lovren? I don't think so, however how much would we expect to get for Yoshida. Good business now would be getting Dembelle from Celtic with Long going in the opposite direction. However that is as likely as us paying £15m for Toby Alderweireld while we had the chance rather than offering £12. VVD deal is not "good business" as we don't have a good businessman running the club. Just someone that just happened to be at the club when we did have a good businessman running the club. I think we will just about stay up this year, I don't think Swansea will, unless we learn from their mistakes its only a matter off time

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BoondockSaint added 15:35 - Dec 28 Happy New Year to you also, San Marco! I'm a bit over zealous I know, and I am not suggesting a big conspiracy, but I would have liked to have heard of a bidding war in the media. Yes, 15 million is a lot (to us fans anyway), but Les and the board are not going to spend it anyway, so doesn't make any difference, and a sale to a top 2 club would at least make it look like we are not the Scouse feeder club. I just feel the deal was done in the summer and all the complaining to the FA was to placate us fans who were in an uproar at the time. It was just to make it look like we were standing up to the big clubs when we were not. It was just a big public relations lie. P.S. Sorry all, I thought only the link url would appear in the post, not the big article masthead. Looks like a damn pop-up!

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saintmark1976 added 15:49 - Dec 28 Sorry to say it but the situation with VVD is just a reflection of the current state of the Premiership and to a slightly less degree society in general. Regretfully loyalty counts for nothing, money talks and I fear it will only continue to get worse. There have been a few posters on this site and many on the Echo site suggesting that " we pay their wages" and this entitles us to a say as to what goes on. The fact is that our admission money is no longer of any great importance.Clubs now get so much money from Broadcasting rights that fans have become almost irrelevant. We are increasingly viewed as of no importance and merely a distraction to be tolerated at a distance by the owners and the board.

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ItchenNorth added 16:14 - Dec 28 Unfortunately the Premier League and all its money has ruined the game. It's been a down hill slide since the leagues creation. The big losers are the supporters (who actually attend matches). The winners are the armchair fans in this country and around the world and of course the players with their millions and greed. This isn't going to change unless the structuring of the leagues both domestically and in Europe change. To this ends I couldn't care less if the top clubs from around Europe's domestic league's joined a locked off European Super League. UEFA have wanted it for years, just look at the Champions League or Europa set up. It wouldn't stop the likes of VVD and his pals chasing the money and to be the very best they can (and why shouldn't they aim high), but it would bring the domestic game back the the real supporters again. Imagine a league where you could compete for a title ! There are so many big clubs up and down this country, the game would easily survive and thrive without the likes of Liverpool, Man Utd, Chelsea, Man City, Arsenal etc. Of course currently, no one wants relegation, but the Championship is a great league. Full of massive clubs. We'd might just see a return to a team full of hunger and drive, with maybe the next Bale, Walcott or Lallana coming through the ranks and less of the Lovrens, Fonte's and VVD's as they engineer moves and cause disruption amid the ranks. Maybe. The downside at the moment though is that if you play well in the Championship; you end up back in the Premier League again ! Let's hope we find our next great January signing ala Marion Pahars with part of this VVD 75mil, but let's not try to convince ourselves that anything else is likely to change with the game, players or the club until the whole infrastructure of the game changers at a much much higher level.

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pintsizedsaint added 16:30 - Dec 28 Oh no! Not Nick too! We might as well all become Liverpool fans now... Well thank heavens that's done. Shame it's not to City, but Saints have added a further £10-15m profit, which is nice. VVD simply isn't worth that amount, and the pressure on him (and Klopp) will be immense. What's most interesting is that City (and others) clearly thought that valuation was a joke. Have to ask yourself: does Klopp see something everybody else doesn't? Or have Liverpool just taken a massive (loss making) gamble? We shall find out, but even if VVD becomes an Anfield favourite it will be difficult for Liverpool to recoup that fee. Biggest winner is Saints. Hands down. Don't care what the so called pundits say about us being a selling club, you cannot ignore times when a big club get so desperate they will pay well over the odds. And Saints get rid of a toxic immature player too. Time to knuckle down now. The early deal is mooted to be because Saints want to reinvest quickly. This could be the turning point for the club. It's Jan so we may have to pay a little extra, but so be it. Bring in players who want to play for the club and It's manager. On a related note, I read PEH's heartfelt response to the Spurs drubbing and I thought that spoke volumes. Here is a player who has been left on the side, but hasn't sulked. Out of most of the players he's one who really could say he's been hard done by. Instead he's committed and even criticises those who haven't been playing 100%. Good on you Pierre. Give it all against Man U now.

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leighsaint added 17:44 - Dec 28 I hate the thought of VVD going to scum of the premier League but who of loyal supporters of Saints would turn down not the offer of greater club or glories but £180.000per week against what we can pay. I have supported Saints since I first saw them in 1946 but we have always since that time lost players for extra money or supposed glory. I always believe it’s for money only now the difference is so vast. We will never have another Le Tiss I’m sorry to say money always talks

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1970 added 18:02 - Dec 28 very good article Nick I'm sure most people agree with a lot of that, but this whole sorry saga has gone on from jan not the summer and I remember puel saying vvd would be back playing at the beginning of apr so enough time for us to get enough points to finish 7th and a poss place in Europe but vvd threw his toys out of the pram and demanded a move so didn't play again that season and now the first half of this season he's been a complete disgrace on and off the pitch so if we were going to sell to shitepool all along why didn't les negotiate a deal for sakho back then because lets face it even with 75 mill burning a whole in our pocket we will struggle to get any better defenders than him, the deal was done now because the season ticket holders have parted with there hard earned cash this season, 75 mill is a lot of money but nowhere near the cost of failing to qualify for Europe and the relegation fight were in this season and we have given them a massive boost in the process so I think we should of waited until summer then declare him for sale but anyway good riddance maybe you could set up a sweep stake or poll to see how many days it will be before his house is burgaled ,coyr spend wisely les .

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Saintsfc added 18:25 - Dec 28 So painful supporting saints.. If anyone can be bothered, look at my comments from 6 months ago, I said sell. This was inevitable he wasn't staying 3/4+ years, I have no idea what saints wanted to achieve, not sure they do tbh.. Anyway I'm hearing Alfie mawson and theo W.. Could be interesting
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Saintsfc added 18:25 - Dec 28 So painful supporting saints.. If anyone can be bothered, look at my comments from 6 months ago, I said sell. This was inevitable he wasn't staying 3/4+ years, I have no idea what saints wanted to achieve, not sure they do tbh.. Anyway I'm hearing Alfie mawson and theo W.. Could be interesting
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thetruesaint added 19:57 - Dec 28 Now that we have that money we can spend it on an even better cb and striker. To be honest, we still haven't replaced Pelle, so a striker like him, one who can hold the ball up, head and finish, is what i think we should go for with the vvd money. Goodbye Virgil, thanks for everything.
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underweststand added 06:08 - Dec 29 it might be a disappointment for those who complain about us losing players regularly but it's a bonus for those Saints fans who live north of Watford, as they can make the trip up North to see the " ex-Saints side " playing at Anfield as often as they like. Environmentally friendly too, as they'll have less milage to cover.
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Totton_Saint_Andy added 09:12 - Dec 29 Think we could sing this at St Mary’s on Tuesday - This will be sung at St Mary’s next week - "**** off Van Dijk, Virgil Van Dijk. We just don’t want you anymore. You’ve got some ****ing front, you money-grabbing ****. **** off Virgil Van Dijk!"
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