CONFIRMED - Virgil Van Dijk joins on Five Year Deal

you know how they say geniuses act up in school because they are bored and can't be bothered with the simple, easy lessons being taught.

maybe this is the case with Van Dijk

There is such a thing as playing down to the level of your competition. Maybe he plays up so much because it is easier for him to recover back in Scottish League competition. If he is truly talented, with some simple coaching and maybe one or two painful lessons, he will pick up on the PL pace and skill level in the long run.

For all you dissing his league- Mane came from the Austrian league ffs.

For all you dissing his league- Mane came from the Austrian league ffs.

UEFA league rankings 2014/15...

16th Austria

23rd Scotland

UEFA league rankings 2014/15...

 

16th Austria

23rd Scotland

Both still relatively poor leagues.

I do honestly believe Koeman is looking at a back five that will feature Caulker, Virgil and Fonte.

With this we will have the wing backs pushing on with Wanyama sitting back and Claisie and attacking new signing pulling the strings in the number 10 role.

Mane and Pelle/Jayrod will complete the team.

The squad will look very healthy for the EPL and European games as we have several options to mix it with Davis, Juami (whatever the name) JWP, Reed and Long.

I saw a few snippets of that game too, and I agree with your concerns. He was way out of position when the Ross player was brought down by Gordon, and he allowed the Ross centre forward to get away from him very easily and then strolled back rather than chase him back.

In saying that he did look good with the ball at his feet when moving forward.

 

He has the raw materials I think, but he does need some coaching and defensive discipline drilled into him.

Who better than The Dutch Master to teach him?

Maybe we missed a trick with the Green away kit - we should have got green hoops instead to make all the old bhoys feel at home

Or we could always go the Saggy Faced route and offer Rio Ferdinand a sh!tload of money and try and coax him out of retirement

Express says £7m bid done:

http://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/595840/Exclusive-Southampton-make-7m-bid-for-Arsenal-and-Man-United-target-Virgil-van-Dijk

Palace just paid 9 million for Connor Wickham as you say 10.5 million doesn't seem bad around 10 mil seems the going rate for good players ( and Connor Wickham) these days.

It's 0.85 Ross McCormacks

Exactly. I've seen plenty of players look good in poor leagues, but there are different ways of looking good. Some have that extra something that makes you think they can do it at a higher level. Often touch, passing, composure, he has all that. Defending isn't something he can prove in the SPL. If they don't concede, it's a poor league, if they do, he's awful. Besides, you don't defend alone in any team. Perhaps there is an element of not being tested too.

 

More to the point, it's been clear Saints are about improving players. Like Wanyama he may come here good but rough around the edges. Still think he'll end up being an excellent defender, plus he pops up with goals, never a bad thing to have at the back.

 

Plus doesn't it just seem right that Koeman should manage a Dutch technically gifted goalscoring centre back?

For every Victor Wanyama there's a Jos Hooiveld. But van Dijk on a 5 year contract for less than a $hlong would be good business.

For every Victor Wanyama there's a Jos Hooiveld. But van Dijk on a 5 year contract for less than a $hlong would be good business.

Don't really understand this reference - Hooiveld is an example of a player good enough for the Championship not being good enough for the Premier League, one of many, many examples. The fact that two years before he happened to play in Scotland doesn't feel relevant.

Saints bought him to help get us promoted and he did.

I do honestly believe Koeman is looking at a back five that will feature Caulker, Virgil and Fonte.

 

With this we will have the wing backs pushing on with Wanyama sitting back and Claisie and attacking new signing pulling the strings in the number 10 role.

Mane and Pelle/Jayrod will complete the team.

 

The squad will look very healthy for the EPL and European games as we have several options to mix it with Davis, Juami (whatever the name) JWP, Reed and Long.

Yes, I'm sure you're right. It's a system that he is a big fan of. Explains why we have been practising it throughout pre-season.

Yes, I'm sure you're right. It's a system that he is a big fan of. Explains why we have been practising it throughout pre-season.

Yeah, but that's Koeman's masterplan. Suddenly unleash a completely brand new untried system on the unsuspecting rest of the league. The very last thing they expect us to do. Genius.

I do honestly believe Koeman is looking at a back five that will feature Caulker, Virgil and Fonte.

 

With this we will have the wing backs pushing on with Wanyama sitting back and Claisie and attacking new signing pulling the strings in the number 10 role.

Mane and Pelle/Jayrod will complete the team.

 

The squad will look very healthy for the EPL and European games as we have several options to mix it with Davis, Juami (whatever the name) JWP, Reed and Long.

Maybe in the odd game we might do that (like last season) and it is a system which should suit Mane but if we were going to do that regularly then we would have practised it a bit more (more than not-at-all, f'sure) in pre-season I would've thought.

Express says £7m bid done:

http://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/595840/Exclusive-Southampton-make-7m-bid-for-Arsenal-and-Man-United-target-Virgil-van-Dijk

Arsenal and Man Utd target?!! - That's stretching it a bit isn't it?!

You really ought to get some treatment. It was just my opinion.

Considering how many times you said Morgan wasn't up to much in L1 forgive us for totally ignoring your views on players.

It's 0.85 Ross McCormacks

I thought we only worked in $longs!

Don't really understand this reference - Hooiveld is an example of a player good enough for the Championship not being good enough for the Premier League, one of many, many examples. The fact that two years before he happened to play in Scotland doesn't feel relevant.

 

Saints bought him to help get us promoted and he did.

My point is that, in my opinion Wanyama has improved markedly since he came to Saints, but Jos didn't improve much at all. That is not to say he was a bad player.

Although he did score a lot more goals at Saints, just not always at the right end.

Talksport reporting Sunderland have put in a bid for Van Dyke today.I can believe the bidding from clubs is going to heat up in a big way in the coming days.

Talksport reporting Sunderland have put in a bid for Van Dyke today.I can believe the bidding from clubs is going to heat up in a big way in the coming days.

We arent going to get him, are we ?

We arent going to get him, are we ?

I suspect we are.

We arent going to get him, are we ?

I hope we do sign him, even if just to prove your persistent and unfounded negativity wrong. Why are you such an intolerable pissant all the time? Could you try keeping the floods of tears to yourself for at least a week to give the rest of us a break?

Talksport reporting Sunderland have put in a bid for Van Dyke today.I can believe the bidding from clubs is going to heat up in a big way in the coming days.

We arent going to get him, are we ?

Don't worry alpine_saint & ART, if Sunderland get Van Dyke that leaves the path open for Saints to sign van Dijk.

Wearing exactly the same clothes as he wore on the way to Celtic in 2013. With the same bloke.

Reverse image search is everybody's friend.

Sent from my HTC Desire 310 using Tapatalk

If TS did say that Sunderland have put a bid in, it's gone completely unnoticed on the Sunderland forums.

Talksport reporting Sunderland have put in a bid for Van Dyke today.I can believe the bidding from clubs is going to heat up in a big way in the coming days.

Batman?

Batman?

What?

Is anyone genuinely concerned about Sunderland allegedly having some sort of interest? Not me.

Is anyone genuinely concerned about Sunderland allegedly having some sort of interest? Not me.

It's more of a concern than not. I can see him going there.

Is anyone genuinely concerned about Sunderland allegedly having some sort of interest? Not me.

Not on a sporting level, but the sort of players they are chasing this summer mean they must surely pay more than we do? That would be a concern.

What?

Was it on talk sport?

Not on a sporting level' date=' but the sort of players they are chasing this summer mean they must surely pay more than we do? That would be a concern.[/quote']

Struggling teams throwing silly money at players is a recipe for success. QPR did well with that idealism, oh, hang on wait ;-)

Struggling teams throwing silly money at players is a recipe for success. QPR did well with that idealism, oh, hang on wait ;-)

Unlike QPR, Sunderland are a relatively established prem side, though they've diced with relegation. And they're probably bigger than us as well.

Struggling teams throwing silly money at players is a recipe for success. QPR did well with that idealism, oh, hang on wait ;-)

I never said it is how to be successful, but the question was asked if Sunderland's interest meant the player may be more unlikely to come to Saints. If they offer better wages than us, which I think they can do, then I think it does make them contenders regardless of how good they are.

Has guan 2.0 gone into hiding?

Personally, considering we've got Koeman, Europa League, and have had pretty good press the last few seasons, I'm not concerned in the slightest about Sunderland being (possibly) interested in VVD.

I agree Roger - we need some Guan input here soon - to many rumours flying around at the mo

I never said it is how to be successful' date=' but the question was asked if Sunderland's interest meant the player may be more unlikely to come to Saints. If they offer better wages than us, which I think they can do, then I think it does make them contenders regardless of how good they are.[/quote']

 

A key motivation for van Dijk appears to be to get into the Dutch squad for Euro 2016. He'd have a better chance with Saints in the top half of the Premier League and Europa League than with Sunderland.

 

An interview he did earlier in the summer...

 

‘Of course the Champions League millions are important for Celtic, but they cannot dismiss any interest,’ said van Dijk.

 

 

‘If the correct amount is placed on the table, then they will really think about it, yes. If Celtic want to earn money from me, the club must act now.

 

 

‘There has been interest every summer and winter, especially from the Premier League. I stood there open to it, but Celtic decided not to sell me at that time. Yes, I was disappointed.

 

 

‘I’ve learned more over here in Scotland than if I would have stayed for another two years in the Netherlands.

 

 

'But will this be the summer of Virgil van Dijk (getting a transfer)? I hope so. It’s about time. It is time for a new challenge.

 

 

‘This year I’ll turn 24 and I need something new. More pressure, better opponents. Especially when you think of the European Championships next year. I want to be in the team in France.’

 

 

‘It’s my dream and my goal to play for Holland,’ he told Voetbal International. ‘I keep setting targets and my aim is to make it as difficult as possible for the national coach to ignore me.

 

 

‘I don’t know why I’m not in the Holland national team. Apparently I didn’t impress Hiddink and (assistant Danny) Blind enough the last two times I was selected.

 

 

‘A transfer to the English Premier League would help but I’m open for all top leagues — England, Germany, Spain, France. But in the end I have to like the team and Celtic has to agree with the bid and transfer.

 

 

‘When you play in the Premier League in Holland and England, you get more recognition — that’s obvious. Whether it is right or not, I’ll leave that for others to judge.

 

 

‘If I played in a major European league, then the probability of selection is greater.’

Jimmy_D - when will this be sticky ; )

I'm still not convinced. They may be bigger than us as a club, in so far as stadium size and fan base, but infrastructure and current standing makes us a far more attractive and sensible option. Also, we have a wage and finacial structure that is sustainable and we have shown that we will not break that. For these reasons, I am not concerned. Throwing money at players in a desperate attempt to get their signature on a contract just smacks of desperation. I would wonder how close to the FFP limit Sunderland actually are.

Jimmy_D - when will this be sticky ; )

If he signs!

There's still the possibility that Celtic will keep hold of him for another season, or Chelsea could give up on Stones and go after him, or we could change targets, or something else entirely happens.

I've never been ITK, and would probably keep any ITK stuff to myself if I did have any, so 'tis purely my opinion based on the reports that everyone else can see too.

A key motivation for van Dijk appears to be to get into the Dutch squad for Euro 2016. He'd have a better chance with Saints in the top half of the Premier League and Europa League than with Sunderland.

 

An interview he did earlier in the summer...

I've no doubt that on a sporting level Saints are more appealing than Sunderland. But players take a number of things into consideration when making moves, and money plays a big part.

That interview doesn't talk about his prospects for Holland being better in the top half of the Premier League rather than the bottom half, he just references it as one of the major leagues.

If Sunderland are interested I don't think they should be wrote off - they are getting players from teams who pay a lot of wages and they already pay a lot of money to the likes of Adam Johnson. They can pay big money and that means they can attract players, no matter how garbage they are on the pitch as a team.

Decision between Saints and Sunderland isn't likely to be financially based. Both clubs broadly similar (2013/14 season)

Total income Saints slightly ahead £105m/£101m and wages Sunderland slightly ahead £68m/£63m

Guan reported last thurs night he'd come back with news in the morning and look at directors box nothing since?

Guan reported last thurs night he'd come back with news in the morning and look at directors box nothing since?

The comment about the directors box was in regards to Roy Hodgson turning up.

He did however say he had a transfer update which he was going to post Friday morning.

Oh well,

The comment about the directors box was in regards to Roy Hodgson turning up.

 

He did however say he had a transfer update which he was going to post Friday morning.

 

Oh well,

Whose more itk guan or monk and where's the ITK thread gone?

Whose more itk guan or monk and where's the ITK thread gone?

Both trustworthy, not sure there is a "more ITK".

Not sure, think it was locked last week for some reason, no idea why, it was quite helpful.

K Billy is the only guarantee in my opinion.

Those writing off Sunderland are a tad silly. In my bias opinion we are the better option for him to get into the international side. We've got Classie here and the Koeman factor means he will get noticed more in Holland. Even in recent times we've been the team to propel players to international level (Fonte, Lambert and Pelle) despite their age.

Really hoping we pull this one off. Got £40 on it when it was 3/1.

20/6/13 Arrives at Glasgow Airport to sign for Celtic.