Rumour Mongering: Manuel Pellegrino Expects Van Dijk To Remain At Southampton

It’s painful to talk about, but there are those among us— both at TLO and within the wider community of Liverpool fans— who remain hopeful that the Reds will still manage to sign Southampton defender Virgil van Dijk. That bright future grows dimmer with each passing day, but I don’t care. Hope is the thing with feathers.

A couple more of those feathers were plucked this weekend, however. Saints boss Manuel Pellegrino told reporters that he’s confident VVD will still be at St. Mary’s when the transfer window closes next week.

“I think on September 1st, Virgil will be here,” Pellegrino said.

This comes at the end of a week when Southampton’s brain trust seems to be committed to hanging on to the player, despite ostensibly signing a replacement.

Still: Liverpool seem to have committed to a VVD Or Bust approach to the end of the transfer window. And frankly, so have we.

Come home, Virgil. We have cookies. And cable TV.