Southampton’s Pellegrino, van Dijk set for talks this week

Southampton returned from France this weekend and the club is hopeful Virgil van Dijk will be in a position to return to training with the first team.

Van Dijk, who has been linked with a move to Liverpool all summer, has been training alone since 21st July after being deemed not in the right frame of mind by Mauricio Pellegrino.

The defender missed Southampton’s trip to France, which concluded with a 3-0 win over AS Saint Etienne, but is nearing a return to training with talks with the manager impending this week according to the Daily Echo.

Southampton has not fully addressed the situation during an otherwise quiet summer. They brought in 21-year-old Polish defender Jan Bednarek, but he does not figure to be the direct replacement should van Dijk depart.

Van Dijk, meanwhile, has not featured for Saints since sustaining an injury in January, though he has posted regular recovery updates via personal social media.

Saints have just two friendlies remaining — against FC Augsburg and Sevilla — ahead of the start of the Premier League season on 12th August.