Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf are wrapping themselves up in the Virgil van Dijk situation. It’s a big story in the Netherlands because if Van Dijk leaves Southampton the transfer record for a Dutchman will have more holes blown in it than a block of Leerdammer.
Monday’s edition of De Telegraaf pretty much accused Van Dijk of being on strike, annoyed Southampton are denying him a Liverpool transfer, and said that explanations it wasn’t exactly that were simply window dressing.
On Tuesday they say he’s ‘refusing to train or play’.
“If a player can make such a nice move and there is so much money involved, I can understand that Virgil is taking action at the moment. We can help players, also abroad. Virgil has not reported it.”
Harro Knijff, a specialist in sports law, has also spoken to De Telegraaf and explained that even in the Netherlands, where footballers can take clubs to Arbitration Committee to try 
and force a transfer, the club refusing to sell often wins and either gets a higher fee or keeps the player.
Matt Le Tissier is quoted and of course sticks up for Southampton, questioning Liverpool’s class in the process: “I remember the times when Liverpool was a football club who set up with class around transfers. There have been no bids at Southampton for Virgil all summer. And until the moment there is a bid, a club should not talk to a player.”
With De Telegraaf openly reporting that Van Dijk, for all intents and purposes, is on strike, the situation gets even murkier.
