In what was perhaps the strangest transfer saga in the history of Southampton Football Club, they supposedly had the hottest property in English football on their hands but nobody actually made a bid.

For three months barely a day went by without mention of the imminent transfer of Virgil Van Dijk, Liverpool were the most linked club and the biggest queue at Anfield was not supporters buying season tickets but ex players including club employees waiting in line to tell the media that they had heard that the deal was imminent/ close/nailed on(delete as appropriate)

But nothing happened, Liverpool dare not risk a bid as has been well documented and the likes of Chelsea and Manchester City were not going to be pawns in their game.

This morning the Liverpool Echo confirmed this stating that despite their public apology and insistence that they were no longer interested in the player that Liverpool always remained keen to sign him, but could not do so unless they received the green light from Southampton either directly or indirectly by Saints agreeing a deal with the likes of Chelsea.

Of course this did not happen and not a single bid was received at St Mary's to test the clubs resolve.

Under intense pressure it is to the credit of Southampton Football Club that they remained firm and dignified, publicly they said little, every now and again they would speak to the press to state that Van Dijk was not for sale, but it was as if they were invisible, no one, media, Liverpool Football Club and especially its fans were not interested, they all thought little Southampton would roll over.

This was going on over the continent and it has to be said that this summer there seems to be a concerted effort by football agents to show they are in charge and that contracts mean nothing.

Ironically Liverpool were suffering the same issues with one of their own players, but they did not seem to get the irony.

Only on the afternoon of 31st August as the transfer deadline loomed and the frenzy on Liverpool message boards suddenly realised that Van Dijk was not on a private jet nor did the fact that he left Staplewood after training mean anything other than he was going home after training did the reality sink in.

But is this now the future of the game, has the last semblance of honesty and dignity finally gone from the game, are the agents going to take over and try and do what they want mainly in the pursuit of their clients getting the biggest pay day rather than what is best for their career.

For now at least Virgil Van Dijk remains a Saints player and he does so perhaps wondering how the hell this situation could have happened, the main reason that he probably is not a Liverpool player today is not the fault of Southampton Football Club who merely wanted him to honour a lucrative contract on which the ink was barely dry, but with his Agent Rob Janssen of the Wasserman group and Liverpool Football Club who conived to do things in such an underhand manner that even Caligula would have blushed.

What next for Van Dijk ? Will you welcome him back to the fold ?

Vote now in our online poll using the link below.

https://www.fansnetwork.co.uk/football/southampton/forum/208327/will-you-welcome

Photo: Action Images

Ali_Diarea added 09:54 - Sep 1 I disagree, a move to Liverpool would have been great for his career. A shot at the title and champions league football, who wouldn't want that?! It's not the fault of the agents, they are just leeches who also benefit. So relieved he stayed though and massively impressed by the way SFC conducted itself, RK doesn't say much but when he does speak it seems he can be relied upon. Our starting eleven should now be very hard to breakdown and score against, let's just hope we can grab a goal now and again to turn nil nils into wins!

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highfield49 added 10:09 - Sep 1 This saga could of course turn out to have been a pyrrhic victory. Hopefully not and the cost of not selling vvd doesn't come back to haunt us. Unlike others I'm not convinced the "selling club" tag has been torn up on the basis of the vvd farce and it wont be long before the "don't sell at any price" supporters are saying we need to spend £60m on a striker. Hope I'm wrong.

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SaintBrock added 10:16 - Sep 1 My guess is that club chairmen decided to stand together against Agents and not bid for each other's players who were not for sale. Sanchez, van Dyke, Coutinho all still at their clubs this morning. Nothing to do with vD as such but his situation may have been the bellwether.
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FARESAINT added 10:18 - Sep 1 Well ill go against the general consensus and say i wish he had gone. I dont believe he will play at his fullest from now on, maybe pick up a niggling injury etc etc. We should of sold him for the 60mil and invested in a decent midfielder and maybe a striker. Dont get me wrong he is a great player however he has shown some very poor qualities which wont disappear overnight. Merson believes Victor wont play until January! we shall wait and see. Llooking forward to a decent, exciting season now this farce is over...

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REEDYREEDOREEDZ added 10:39 - Sep 1 Saints have done really well to keep Van Dyke and I'm happy he's staying. He's one of the best defenders in Europe and we'll be so much better with him and Hoedt at the back. The challenge now is to reintegrate him into the squad. He'll have to apologise to the fans and his teammates. I think his team mates will welcome him back because they know how good he is and how much better the team is with him in it. The fans also need to accept his apology. The worst thing we can do is boo him, it won't achieve anything. We need to welcome him back. I know a lot of fans absolotely will not want to do it and will give him dogs abuse but its not the way to go. His first game back at St Mary's, if its a nightmare for him then he may just think sod it I won't bother. To get him back to his best we need to accept his apology (when it comes, and it will!)

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SonicBoom added 13:56 - Sep 1 There were no bids because everyone in football knew he wanted to go to Liverpool. The other big clubs were not prepared to make a bid which would then enable Liverpool to bid, plus they would look silly as they would be rejected anyway. By not bidding they stopped Liverpool from being able to so a good strategy really.
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Rednose added 14:58 - Sep 1 Not sure SFC done well to keep VVD, they just didn't sell him. Just a matter of time probably. However now the work begins to get the bloke focused. In my mind he should be stripped of any captaincy, because the qualities he's shown of late, frankly, have been sh1te. He signed a very good deal last summer to keep him here for some time, that's clearly not going to happen. So SFC should nip it in the bud now and tell him he's here until the end of this season forget a January move. After the season has ended they will listen to any offer over 50K. He has then only one option to secure a move and make the World cup if his country qualifies. That is shut the feck up, stop the sulking and play with pride and passion like the rest of his team mates, who knows we might even make the champions league, whether he stays to enjoy it would then be up to him. As a supporter, if he does buckle down I will cheer and applaud him, as anything else would have a negative affect not just on him, but the team and us as supporters. Dare I say it... We March On :-)

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aceofthebase added 17:55 - Sep 2 No way will VVD apologise and it is us fans who will have to accept this. It's no use booing him, get him playing, get back to having a top class defender
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