Southampton appoint van Dijk as captain
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Virgil van Dijk seems certain to be staying at Southampton after being named team captain following the sale of Jose Fonte to Southampton.
As an insurance measure Steve Davis has been named as club captain.
Van Dijk was strongly rumoured to be leaving Southampton during the January transfer window with speculation that Manchester City and Chelsea could be putting in bids of over £50m.
Celtic could have picked up a £5m bonus on the defender that they sold 18 months earlier but since the club doesn’t have a going concern warning in their accounts cash flow isn’t critical.
More worryingly for Southampton is the ankle injury that the defender picked up during Sunday’s 3-0 win over Leicester City.
Van Dijk was forced to come off after 55 minutes and is a doubt for Wednesday’s EFL Cup semi-final second leg against Liverpool where Saints have a one goal lead.
“Virgil took a big kick and we will see if we can recover him for this game,” Saints manager Claude Puel told Sporting Life.
“I hope we can have Virgil of course because he is our captain and he’s an important player. Of course, it will be better to recover Vigil for this game.
“He could not continue the game. We will see for the next games, I don’t know if he can recover.”
Van Dijk signed a second Southampton contract last May but seems certain to leave in the summer with bids starting at £50m.