After an intense summer spent on the sidelines wondering where he will end up next, Virgil van Dijk returned to action with the Southampton U-23 side, against Aston Villa. The match was a complete disaster for the defender who played full 90 minutes but couldn’t prevent his side from conceding four goals. (Telegraph)

If things had fallen in place, Van Dijk would have been playing for Liverpool. The entire summer for the Southampton defender was spent on constant speculation linking him with a move to Anfield. However, the Saints resisted all the efforts and were successful in retaining the services of their key player.

But, how about the player? It was a rude awakening for Van Dijk who was mentally all set on moving to Liverpool. He even went into sulking mode and decided not to train with the first team squad. When the transfer window closed and he had no option but to stay at the club, a reluctant Van Dijk decided to reintegrate with the first team squad.

The last time Van Dijk played a professional match for Southampton in the Premier League was in late January. Since then, the player has missed almost eight months of action because of ankle and foot problems to go along with the transfer embargo.

Is this a sign of rust or did Liverpool get lucky by not picking him up? Let’s get real. The player has not been on the pitch for a long time. Even the best of the players find it difficult to get it right in the first match after a long layoff.

There is no doubt about Van Dijk’s quality and one poor performance shouldn’t rule him out. After all, anyone who has seen Liverpool ship in five goals against Manchester City, albeit with ten men, will agree that Van Dijk will be an improvement on the current options.

It seems like Van Dijk is still not able to digest the fact that he couldn’t get his move to Liverpool. Southampton still hope that they can get him back to full fitness – both mentally and physically, to help them in this campaign. Liverpool will surely hope to go back for his signature.

https://youtu.be/4ng5Nb4Cdk0