Saints have yet to receive an offer for Virgil van Dijk, and would not welcome one as they hope to keep hold of their star defender.

Several reports have suggested that Manchester City have already agreed a £60m deal with Saints to sign the Dutch centre half.

Others have said that Liverpool remain confident of landing him with van Dijk keen on a move to Anfield, while Chelsea are also rumoured to be set to blow everyone else out of the water with a mega deal.

However, it is all quiet at St Mary’s, with no offers for van Dijk having come in and, for now at least, no imminent sense that another club is going to try and prise him away.

As revealed in the Daily Echo last week, Saints are adamant that they are in the driving seat with regards to van Dijk’s future.

The 25-year-old still has five years left on his current contract, having signed a new deal last summer that made him the club’s highest ever paid player.

They also invested in van Dijk’s rehab which has got him back to fitness after missing much of the second half of last season through injury.

Saints are expecting to be shown some loyalty by the player, and there is no hint at this stage that that won’t be the case.

Van Dijk has been a very stable character at Saints and a strong presence in the changing room.

As far as Saints are concerned there is no need to sell van Dijk at this point in time.

They don’t need the money to finance new signings, and the view at the club is that the defender will be worth at least as much next summer as he is this given the length of his contract, his age and ability.

Therefore, the only case to sell would be if a club were prepared to pay a significant premium on top of his current market value to compensate for that.

Certainly that would be far in excess of the £50m touted and, in reality, would be expected to be a lot more than the £60m City had been reported to have agreed.

There would also be absolutely no incentive for Saints to make a decision to sell hastily anyway.

With three clubs with significant finances supposedly interested, the best chance of a high fee is for a bidding war to ensue, or for a club to really push the boat out if they get desperate.

It all leaves Saints in a relaxed situation hopeful that van Dijk will still be at the club next season, and knowing that if he isn’t it will only be because they were made an eye watering offer too good for any club to refuse.