CELTIC’S hopes of a £5million bonus from a Southampton summer sale of Virgil van Dijk look like being scuppered.
The classy Dutch international centre-back has been persistently linked with a £50million move to Manchester City at the end of the season.
Hoops chief executive Peter Lawwell insisted on a 10 per cent sell-on policy when he allowed Van Dijk to leave for Saints in a £13million deal on September 1 2015.
Chelsea and Liverpool have also been linked with the 25-year-old defender who cost the Parkhead side a bargain £2.6million when they signed him from Eredivisie outfit Groningen in June 2013.
But St Mary’s chairman Ralph Krueger is insisting the talented ball-playing stopper is going NOWHERE.
Van Dijk agreed a six-year extension last May and was named Saints captain following the departure of Jose Fonte to West Ham in January.
Krueger is adamant the club have no intention of selling the defender, who is currently on the sidelines with an ankle injury and missed the team’s dramatic 3-2 League Cup Final loss to Manchester United on Sunday.
The club supremo said: “We are striving to keep this group together and to build on it.
“Virgil is very committed to us for a long time and we don’t see anything but that in our future. He is our team captain and we don’t see him anywhere else than in red and white stripes.”
Southampton have allowed star names, including ex-Celtic midfielder Victor Wanyama, to leave in previous transfer windows.
However, Krueger added: “We don’t want to do what we did in the last three summers every year.
“We would like to move away from that and we feel confident this summer will be a lot quieter in Southampton and we can keep the core of this team moving forward for a few years.
“That is going to be important when you see how excellent the group is right now and how exciting the football is.
“The game we are playing is a pleasure to watch and a pleasure to be part of.”
Van Dijk suffered an ankle injury in the 3-0 win over Leicester in January and has been ruled out for up to three months.
