Speculations running around Southampton’s hotcake Virgil Van Dijk has finally been put to rest as manager Claude Puel recently ruled out sale of the defender in January.
In recent times, £45M rated Van Dijk has been linked to various top EPL clubs including Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United and Manchester City. He keeps displaying nice performances for Puel’s side after a £13M move from Celtic in 2015. His fine performances at the Saints this season had attracted the attention of big teams.
But as things are, projections had already been made that Southampton won’t want to lose van Dijk now. Finally, manager Claude Puel has confirmed that he’s key to his team and are hoping to keep him for a few more years.
According to Sky Sports, Puel said:
“I think for Virgil the price will be the same in two or three years,” “He can stay for two or three years with us. He’s an important player for the team. Also, along with Jose Fonte and Steven Davis, he is a captain of the team. He has a good personality, strong character, quality, and of course he will stay with us.”
Man United boss Jose Mourinho is looking out to add one or two new central defenders to his squad. Even though the duo of Eric Bailly and Phil Jones have made a return back to the side, the Portuguese tactician won’t want to find himself in a helpless position anymore.
However, going by Claude Puel’s recent comments, it seem none of the teams who needs him so much -including Man City who are reportedly ready to pay up to £50M to sign Van Dijk- will get him.
