On the 1st September, the long running saga that was the Virgil van Dijk to Saints transfer, eventually concluded with a reputed £11.5 million deal with Celtic. The 24 year old Dutchman signing a five year contract with Saints.
Van Dijk spent just over two years at Celtic, playing more than 100 games and scoring 15 goals. He started his football career with FC Groningen, playing in the same squad as Dušan Tadić, and has represented his country at under-21 and under-19 levels, but not yet at the senior level.
Saints Les Reed was quoted as saying “We’re delighted to have finally got Virgil into the club after long and lengthy negotiations."
“We’ve had Virgil in our system for a long time and have explored the possibility of signing him in previous transfer windows, and this year we had a really strong opportunity to do it."
Virgil said “I’m so excited. I hope to settle in really quick, get everything around football sorted, start playing and enjoying it because the most important thing in football is to have fun and enjoy every day.”
Sounds very much like he will fit right into the Saints way of working. I look forward to seeing him playing in the next few weeks.
Welcome to Saints Virgil.
- Previous Club : Celtic
- Age : 24
- Nationality : Dutch
- 2015-16 News
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Saints win the last match of the season
In what was ultimately a party atmosphere, Saints qualified for the Europa League by finishing in 5th place, equal on points with Manchester United, but ahead on goal difference. That could change, with the Manchester United v AFC Bournemouth game abandoned. If ManU win, or draw the rearranged game, then Saints will finish 6th, which is still a Europa League qualifying place.
Heck of a way to end the season.
- Premier League
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- Europa League
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Saints won the Qualifying Round 3 against Vitesse 5-0 on aggregate.
In the Play Off Round Saints faced Danish Champions, Midtjylland. The first leg was played on Thursday 20th August at St.Mary’s, ending in a 1-1 draw.
The decisive return match was on Thursday 27th August in Denmark, which ended in a poor 1-0 loss and ultimate exit from the competition.
- The League Cup
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Saints drew MKDons away on Wednesday 23rd September, which ended in a straightforward 6-0 win.
The next round was on Wednesday, 28th October at home to Aston Villa. This was a more comfortable win than the scoreline suggests
The final outing in this season’s League Cup was at home when Saints were comprehensively thrashed by Liverpool
- The FA Cup
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Well, that was short and not very sweet.
Saints faced Crystal Palace in the 3rd round of the 2015/16 FACup, but lost 1-2 on the day.
- 2015-16 Signings
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Saints signed nine players this season. Two on loan and seven on long term contracts. Read more about them by clicking the button.
- Kelvin's Testamonial
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Kelvin is retiring after being central to the club's rise through the divisions. Saints awarded him that rare thing these days, a testimonial which enabled him to have a great evening with current and past colleagues, while raising a lot of money for charity.