Southampton 'hopeful' that Virgil van Dijk will stay put amid Liverpool and Chelsea speculation

The defender submitted a transfer request earlier this week asking that Southampton 'consider the interest' in him

The defender is trying to force a move away from St Mary's (Getty)

Southampton manager Mauricio Pellegrino remains hopeful that Virgil van Dijk will “change his point of view” about wanting to leave the club.

The defender, who will his miss side’s Premier League opener against Swansea after being struck down with a virus, submitted a transfer request earlier this week asking that Southampton “consider the interest” in him.

Van Dijk continues to be linked with a move to Anfield despite Liverpool’s insistence in June that they had dropped their interest in the defender following Saints’ threat to report the club over an alleged illegal approach.

The 26-year-old has also attracted interest from the likes of Premier League champions Chelsea and Manchester City.

But after it emerged that none of the centre-back’s potential suitors have tabled an offer, Pellegrino expressed his belief that the player could still return to the fold at St Mary’s.

“My reaction is the same that I said three weeks ago,” he said. “We are expecting him to come back to train with us because we need the player, we need all of them.

“Hopefully he can change his point of view to be with us because we need the player. Virgil is an important player. We need him to focus on our club.

“The club was clear from the beginning. We were clear with the player.

“We cannot control every single situation. We can decide our job, our dynamic in this club, inside our club. Virgil is part of our club, he has a contract. But now we are waiting.”

Former Celtic player Van Dijk signed a new six-year contract in May 2016, having joined Southampton for £13m from Celtic in September 2015.

When quizzed on whether he would be available for selection this weekend, Pellegrino added: "No, no. Because this week he was with some trouble with a virus and he couldn't train the last two days."

Virgil van Dijk has been urged by Jamie Carragher to join Liverpool, not Chelsea (Getty)

The Argentine manager confirmed Saints will continue to chase more new recruits during the transfer window.

Club record signing Mario Lemina could make his competitive debut against Swansea at St Mary's on Saturday, with fellow new arrival Jan Bednarek also in the mix to feature.

Confirming his desire to make further signings, Pellegrino said: "Yes, there are certain positions where we would like to add strength. But we never know because the market is difficult. It's not easy for us.

"For me with Mario (Lemina) it's a mix. He's a defensive midfielder or a box-to-box midfielder and he has quality, strength in the middle. We didn't have this profile of player I think.


 Mauricio Pellegrino is hopeful Van Dijk will stay put at Southampton 
 (Getty)

"Physically Mario's good, he's been training at Juventus.

"Jan (Bednarek) is a young player that I think has the capability to adapt to the Premier League. And Mario is a player that is coming from one of the biggest clubs in the world.

"We are happy with that. Both of them can help us to be stronger."