Southampton yet to receive offers for wantaway defender Virgil van Dijk

Southampton are yet to receive any offers for Virgil van Dijk despite interest from the likes of Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester City, with the defender having put in a transfer request to force a move out of the club.

The Dutchman is not part of the Saints' pre-season training and has been frozen out of the first team, with the club maintaining their stance that the defender is not for sale.

The Daily Echo reports that the Saints are still hopeful they can convince the 26-year-old to change his mind, with manager Mauricio Pellegrino stating that the defender is an important part of their squad.

The manager had previously left his captain out of the squad for the pre-season trip to France as the defender was psychologically not prepared to join the rest of the teammates.

"My reaction is the same that I said three weeks ago," Pellegrino was quoted as saying by BBC Sport. "We are expecting him to come back to train with us because we need the player.

"Hopefully, he can change his point of view. The club was clear from the beginning with the player. We can't control every single situation. Virgil is part of our club. He has a contract but we are now waiting."

Liverpool publicly ended their interest in Van Dijk in June after Southampton threatened to report the Reds to the Premier League over an alleged illegal approach for the player. But the club have since restarted negotiations with the Saints after they got wind of Van Dijk's transfer request.

The defender put in an official transfer request to the club in a statement which has put the Saints in a quandary. "It is with regret that I can confirm that I have today handed in a transfer request to leave Southampton Football Club," he said on Monday (7 August) in a statement released via his management company.

"Unfortunately, I feel I have no alternative after I was given notice of the club's intention to impose a disciplinary sanction against me of a fine equivalent to 2 weeks wages. I will be appealing what I feel to be an unjustified sanction and their inability to follow the correct disciplinary protocol in due course."