Southampton told by Deila that £7m isn’t even close for van Dijk bid

Southampton have been told that they are wasting their time bidding £7m for Virgil van Dijk.

Ronald Koeman’s side seem to be ‘leading the chase’ for the Celtic defender after signing Victor Wanyama and Fraser Forster over the last two summers.

With English clubs set to spend over one billion pounds during the summer transfer window Ronny Deila won’t be letting the defender go on the cheap.

“When £7m was mentioned I said we would not consider it,” the Celtic boss replied to the latest speculation. “That is not even close and there’s been nothing in terms of offers yet.

“We know what our players are worth and first of all it’s about creating a team and achieving things for Celtic.

“It’s very positive that clubs are interested in our players – that means we are doing something right. But we don’t think about that right now.

“My dream for Virgil and all the other players is to get into the Champions League, play good football there and show they can perform at the highest level.

“Then they can go to the biggest clubs in Europe if they’re going to leave us. That is a step up but the clubs from six downwards in England, like Southampton, are not bigger than us. They have more money than us but they’re not bigger clubs.”

Van Dijk signed a four year contract when he joined Celtic from Groningen in 2012 for a fee of £2.5m.

With the English Premier League season starting at the weekend it’s likely that transfer activity will be increased with clubs desperate to secure their place for the 2016/17 season when the new £5bn television deal kicks in.