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Southampton coach Eric Black: 'Virgil van Dijk will have options to leave'

Van Dijk 'will have options to leave'
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Southampton assistant manager Eric Black believes that Virgil van Dijk will have "options" to leave this summer but is hopeful that the defender will stay.

Southampton assistant manager Eric Black has suggested that Virgil van Dijk will have no shortage of options when the transfer window opens this summer.

Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester City have been touted as potential suitors for the centre-back, who has been sidelined with injury since the end of January.

Manager Claude Puel recently claimed that he expects Van Dijk to still be at the club next season, and Black is hopeful that his colleague is right.

"We'd love to see Virgil van Dijk stay. He's obviously the one everyone has been talking about [leaving]," Black told talkSPORT.

"It would be wonderful [if he stayed], and would be a big step forward for Southampton if we could keep him. But he's one of the best centre-backs in the world, so he may well have options [to leave]."

Van Dijk joined the Saints from Celtic in 2015.

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Southampton defender Virgil van Dijk in action during his side's Premier League clash with Chelsea at St Mary's Stadium on October 30, 2016
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