PL news : Pellegrino avoids Van Dijk talk

Southampton boss Mauricio Pellegrino refused to discuss the future of Virgil van Dijk ahead of Saturday's trip to Huddersfield.


Saints have been keen to stress new signing Wesley Hoedt could play at the back alongside his fellow Dutchman, but Pellegrino would not be drawn on the subject.
"I don't have this information and I don't want to give any opinion about that," he said when asked about a possible deal with Chelsea for Van Dijk.
"It is a situation where nothing has changed. I have nothing to say."

But Pellegrino was far more forthcoming when asked about Hoedt, who joined Southampton from Lazio on a five-year deal on Tuesday in a deal that could rise to £17m.
"Wesley is a young international player who can help us to be stronger in defence," he added.
"He is left footed and the kind of player we don't have. Hopefully he will settle as quickly as possible into the team to be available but we will decide tomorrow [Friday] to see if we can include him in the squad."

Saints picked up four points from their opening two Premier League matches - a goalless draw at home to Swansea followed by a 3-2 victory against West Ham at St Mary's - but were knocked out of the Carabao Cup by Wolves on Wednesday night.
Pellegrino insists the cup exit may benefit his side in the long run but feels the game with Huddersfield, who have made a bright start to their first spell in the top-flight since 1972, will offer an indication of the progress they are making.

"I think we will continue in the same way we have played the first two Premier League games," he said.
"We have to use this game as a reference because I think we deserved to win those two games.
"We had good performances but we have to keep going and use those two games and try to learn from yesterday.
"At the top level today, when you are not focused for five minutes, 10 minutes, it is really difficult to win games. This is the conclusion from yesterday."

Van Dijk looked set for a move to Liverpool earlier in the transfer window, before the Reds stepped back from the deal, with more recent speculation linking him with Chelsea. - Sky Sport