Maurico Pellegrino admits he does not know if Virgil van Dijk will be at Saints in January
Southampton's star defender made his return to first-team football on Saturday, but it remains to be seen how long he will stay
MAURICO PELLEGRINO is not certain that Virgin van Dijk will still be at Southampton when the January transfer window closes.
The Saints manager managed to hold onto the centre-back during the summer period when Liverpool expressed an interest in the player, but he is unsure as to how the land will lie in January.
The Meryside giants, who Pellegrino himself had a six-month stint with as a player, were in hot pursuit of the centre-back this summer.
The 26 -year-old subsequently handed in a transfer request, to speed up the process, but the move north to Anfield didn't happen and the highly rated dutch defender remained at St Mary's.
On Saturday, the Dutch international made his first appearance for the Saints as a late substitute- six weeks after handing in the request to be let go.
But his manager is not certain he will be able to hold onto him during the January transfer window.
Pellegrino understands that there is a lot of interest in his player and accepts that if a big club, like Liverpool, come in with big bucks in January then they can improve their squad with new acquisitions.
He said: "It's normal that the biggest teams in the Premier League want to buy him. He's one of the best players in the Premier League."
Pellegrino is focused on integrating the defender back into the squad, but it could be just a temporary fix.
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After the win at Selhurst Park, Pellegrino said: "We never know how the market will be in January.
"We can bring in some players, every single squad can improve.
"We have got people who are working to improve our squad all the time.
Southampton sit just behind Liverpool in the table who are in dire need of some quality defenders.