Southampton boss Pellegrino: Lone trainer Van Dijk 'wants to leave'
Southampton's Virgil van Dijk appears one step nearer to a summer exit, as Saints manager Mauricio Pellegrino has ordered him to train alone after the the centre-back expressed interest in leaving the south coast club.
"This is the decision. I had to say: 'OK, if you don't want to be involved because you don't feel OK, you have to train alone until this period of time,'" Pellegrino said Friday, according to BBC Sport.
After protracted interest from Liverpool, though the Merseysiders failed to lure the Dutch international to Anfield, Pellegrino's quotes indicate Van Dijk could be nearing a summer departure.
Related: Liverpool ends its interest in Van Dijk, regrets 'misunderstanding'
"He is not involved with the team because psychologically he is not 100 percent," Claude Puel's successor added. "When I was talking with him, the boy said that he is not available to play because he wants to leave.
"I need to work with a player that works at 100 percent to defend Southampton."
Pellegrino took the reins at St. Mary's after guiding Basque minnow Alaves to a ninth-place La Liga standing and Copa del Rey finale versus Barcelona. The Argentine gaffer is understandably reliant on aerial wizard Van Dijk to avoid a fate similar to that of single-season appointee Puel.
"We need the player, but 100 percent - this is the question," Pellegrino said.
Club and manager need the towering centre-back equally, and after missing Van Dijk for chunks of last season through injury - depending on a Maya Yoshida-Jack Stephens pairing - it's obvious why. Liverpool is desperate to add to a core trio of Dejan Lovren, Joel Matip, and Ragnar Klavan as well, and with Van Dijk's exit now a near-certainty, Pellegrino requires players who are invested in the club.
"I want to help the squad, I want to help Virgil but we need a player, I repeat, involved in every training session, involved not just with the body but with the mind on the pitch with the rest of the players," Pellegrino said.