Southampton will allow Virgil van Dijk to leave the club in January, with Manchester City and Chelsea battling it out for his signature, but they will demand a £70million fee for the Dutch centre-half.
Saints boss Mauricio Pelegrino axed the 26-year-old for their 5-2 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur on Boxing Day and admitted that he was free to go in the winter transfer window.
Having come close to a transfer to Liverpool in the summer, Manchester City and Chelsea are now in pole position to land him and Pellegrino confessed he will be allowed to move on, for the right price.
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‘I have to decide what’s best for the team and around Virgil there has been a lot of speculation,’ he said after the 5-2 loss.
‘The manager decides what is the best. We win, draw and lose, with and without Virgil.
‘We have to wait until January. I can’t control the market so we’ll see what happens.
‘We tried to do the best for the team. The board decided to try to keep our best player at the club.
‘This situation is a big learning curve for everybody and now we decide what is the best for the club.’
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