Van Dijk: Am Not Available To Play Because I Wants To Leave, This Is My Decision.

Van Dijk: Am Not Available To Play Because I Wants To Leave, This Is My Decision.

Liverpool formally dropped their interest in Van Dijk last month amid the threat of a potential Premier League investigation into their pursuit of the player.

But the Holland international is said to still be keen on moving to Anfield and is training in isolation after he was withdrawn from the Saints’ pre-season trip to France.

  

Ex-Reds defender Mauricio Pellegrino, now manager at St Mary’s, confirmed that Van Dijk will not be available for selection but reiterated that Southampton are unwilling to sell.

He said: “The boy said that he is not available to play because he wants to leave. This is the decision.

“I had to say ‘if you don’t want to be involved because you don’t feel OK then you have to train alone until this period of time happens’.

  “My relationship with Virgil is excellent. I was clear with the boy, and I was talking from the first day with him.

“The club was clear – the club told me they will not sell Virgil,” added Pellegrino.

“I translated the idea of the club to the player and for me it was easy because I had to manage the dynamic of the team.

  

“Now he is not involved with the team because psychologically he is not 100 per cent.

“If you are not 100 per cent with the team I need to work with the players who are 1,000 per cent to defend Southampton. It’s easy for me.”