Former Southampton defender Virgil van Dijk has been spilling the beans as to what originally influenced him to move to St Mary’s from Celtic back in 2015.
The Dutch talisman arrived from the Scottish champions for £13m on deadline day five years ago and put pen to paper on a five-year deal on the South Coast.
In controversial circumstances, Van Dijk left the club for £75m to join Liverpool, where he went on to win the Champions League after 18 months at Anfield and could be about to clinch the Premier League title with them too.
Speaking to Sky Sports, the 28-year-old revealed the one person that was a key factor in bringing him away from Parkhead to Southampton.
Was Virgil van Dijk right to leave us in the way that he did?
Yes
No
“The main reason was Ronald Koeman,” he said. “I knew players that were there, Dusan Tadic, Jordy Clasie, Graziano Pelle. We had a fantastic team at the time, and I think we had a record-breaking season in my first year there.
“I envisaged going there with all of these goals to achieve and my first season especially was outstanding. Southampton have been very good for me.”
Upon reflection, it is understandable why he left the club, as he used us as a stepping stone to go on to bigger and better things. Liverpool were interested back in 2017 but wanted to see if he could cope with the stresses and strains of the Premier League, which he illustrated during his time with us after some stunning defensive displays.
During his final full season with us, he managed to average 2.6 interceptions, 6.8 clearances and 1.9 tackles per game. Koeman was a huge factor into Van Dijk becoming the player that he is today and it is good that he understands what Southampton has done for him.
Despite what happened in the past, maybe it is time for us to move on as a club as to not cling on to what might have been. I could not see Van Dijk sticking around for much longer and we should continue to rebuild as a team.
