‘Frustrated’ Virgil van Dijk hands in transfer request

Virgil van Dijk has handed in a transfer request to Southampton.

The Dutch defender, 26, who joined the club from Celtic in 2015 and is a long-term transfer target for Liverpool, insists he is acting having had “numerous” discussions during the past six months about his wish to leave.

In a statement released by his management company he also said that he intended to appeal against a club fine of two weeks’ wages, that his desire to leave owes to his ambition, and that enquiries from “multiple top clubs have been consistently rebuffed”.