STEVEN Davis has opened the door for Virgil van Dijk to return to the Saints fold – and admitted they are “desperate” to keep the wantaway centre-back.

Club captain Davis insists the squad are “all there to support him (Van Dijk) and we’d welcome him back with open arms” amid an ongoing transfer saga.

The Dutchman has handed in a transfer request at St Mary’s and is currently training alone, having been banished from sessions and pre-season friendlies by boss Mauricio Pellegrino.

Van Dijk, who is wanted by Liverpool and Chelsea, missed Saturday’s opening day goalless draw at home to Swansea because of a virus – although because of his circumstances would not have been involved any way.

“It’s a situation he’s got to deal with himself,” said Davis. “Nobody else is living in that moment so nobody knows what’s going through his head necessarily.

“But we’re all there to support him and we’d welcome him back with open arms — that goes without question because of the quality that he’s got.”

The Northern Ireland international, who is skipper in the 26-year-old’s absence, is adamant that none of the squad have been riled by Van Dijk’s behaviour.

The centre-back released a fiery statement just days before the start of the Premier League season, which led to fears it might cause disruption to preparations.

“I don’t think it frustrates anybody,” explained Davis. “Of course we want him within the group, we want him to be part of the team.

“But he’s in a situation that he’s dealing with in the best possible way for himself and the club are trying to do that as well. Hopefully he’ll stay, that’s all I can say.”

“We’re all professionals, we know that’s football, we know what goes on behind the scenes,” the 32-year-old added.

“It’s not a situation you necessarily want but of course it’s going to sort itself out in the next few weeks one way or the other anyway.

“We’re desperate and we hope we can keep him because he’s such a quality player and an important player in the dressing room as well.

“But we’ve also got quality with Jack [Stephens] and Maya [Yoshida] who played today and put in good performances.”