It seems like we’ve been talking about this forever!

Such was the complexity and the stubbornness from Southampton and Virgil van Dijk in the summer, the reported world record bids for the former Celtic man fell on deaf ears at St Mary’s.

The player was forced to train with the reserves until the window was closed after throwing his toys out the pram.

Since then Virgil has been professional and has slipped back into the Southampton side when his move to Liverpool failed to materialise.

Speaking about the January window, the Southampton boss has changed his stance since the summer.

“We have a lot of players who are important and most of the clubs in the world want a lot of our players. Virgil is one of those but we have to be focused on our job.

“You never know because when we talk about money, everybody has a price.

“The budget is to sign players and the biggest teams have money to try to sign players. I can’t decide about that. This is a question for our owners.

Liverpool had to apologise to Southampton for what the St Mary’s club seen as an illegal approach for the player last term.

Anfield boss Jurgen Klopp is desperate to land the Dutchman and the club are ready to spend upwards of £60million to make it happen.

With Celtic’s sell-on clause reported to be around 10% to 15% mark – it would be a welcome windfall for the Scottish Champions and further vindication of their successful transfer policy.