Liverpool target Virgil van Dijk trains alone after asking to leave Southampton

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London, July 22: Southampton defender Virgil van Dijk's future has been again cast in severe doubt after the Dutch defender was sent to train alone after he informed the new Southampton manager Mauricio Pellegrino that he wanted to leave the club in their first meeting.

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The 26-year-old is a primary target for Liverpool and the Reds had reportedly failed in a world record bid in the region of £60 million for the player. However, the Saints maintained that the centre-back is not for sale and made a report to FIFA accusing them of illegally tapping up the player.

The allegation then made Liverpool pull out of the race and they later apologised saying they are ending their pursuit for the defender. However, it is now understood that despite the firm stance taken by the club Van Dijk has made it clear that he still wishes to leave the club.

But with the unsettled situation circling around, the new manager has now ordered him not to join the team training as he is no longer in the right frame of mind to be involved with the Southampton first team.

Pellegrino said: "My relationship with Virgil is excellent. I was clear with the boy, and I was talking from the first day with him. The club was clear. The club told me they will not sell Virgil."

"I communicate the idea of the club to the players and for me, it was easy [to leave Van Dijk out of training] because I had to manage the dynamic of the team."

"Now he is not involved with the team because psychologically he is not 100%. If you are not 100 per cent with the team I need to work with the players who are 100% to defend Southampton. It's easy for me."

He added: "The boy said that he is not available to play because he wants to leave. This is the decision. I had to say, 'If you don't want to be involved because you don't feel okay then you have to train alone until this period of time is over."

The Dutch defender who arrived from Celtic in 2015 still has five years left on his current contract which he signed last year and it seems the speculation surrounding him could rumble on until the the transfer deadline day.

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