Liverpool given green light to rekindle interest in Premier League star

Southampton have given Liverpool the green light to rekindle their pursuit of Virgil van Dijk in January.

Van Dijk was desperate to join Liverpool over the summer but Southampton blocked the move despite the fact their captain handed in a transfer request.

However, Southampton manager Mauricio Pellegrino has conceded that every player has his price and a January exit cannot be completely ruled out.

“I don’t know. I can’t control the market,” The Daily Mirror quote Pellegrino as saying on Thursday when asked whether Van Dijk will stay for the rest of the season.

“You never know, because when we talk about money everybody has got a price.

“The budget is to sign players and the biggest teams have got the money to try to sign players.

“I can’t decide about that. This is a question for our owners. Everybody is focused on their area, to try and bring the best players possible for their club. It is something that happens every single transfer window.

‘We have got a lot of good players and most of the teams want to sign them.”

Despite failing to secure a move to Liverpool, Van Dijk will start against Jurgen Klopp’s side when Southampton travel to Anfield on Saturday.

After eight months on the sidelines, the 26-year-old is still looking to rediscover the form that saw him establish himself as one of the best defenders in the Premier League at the start of last season.

However, no defender has won the WhoScored Man of the Match award more times in the last three Premier League campaigns than Van Dijk (10).