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Virgil van Dijk has told Southampton he ONLY wants to join Liverpool leaving the Saints in danger of missing out on a bumper £50 million pay day.

The disgruntled Dutchman, who turned 26 on Saturday, wants to push through a move to Anfield even though Liverpool were warned off last month for allegedly tapping up the defender after Saints complained to the Premier League.

Liverpool backed off with an apology – but Jurgen Klopp is desperate to add the commanding centre-half to his squad and hasn’t given up hope of doing a deal before the window closes.

Southampton don’t want to lose van Dijk but the Dutchman has made it clear he wants to play Champions League football as he did at Celtic before his move to St Mary’s.

(Image: Action Images via Reuters)

New Saints boss Mauricio Pellegrino doesn’t want to keep unhappy players but Southampton have backed themselves into a corner.

Chelsea and Manchester United were both initially interested in van Dijk but Jose Mourinho has signed Swedish star Victor Lindelof from Benfica and Chelsea are closing on a deal for Roma’s German international Antonio Rudiger.

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Manchester City also had van Dijk on their radar but have yet to make a decisive move.

That leaves Liverpool as the only club with a declared interest in the Dutchman – and Southampton in a dilemma with Pellegrino wanting funs to boost his squad.