{"id":12676,"date":"2017-04-29T18:28:12","date_gmt":"2017-04-29T18:28:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.violetsport.com\/2017\/04\/29\/saints-virgil-van-dijks-admiration-for-guardiolas-style-gives-man-city-boost-in-transfer-race\/"},"modified":"2017-04-29T18:28:12","modified_gmt":"2017-04-29T18:28:12","slug":"saints-virgil-van-dijks-admiration-for-guardiolas-style-gives-man-city-boost-in-transfer-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.violetsport.com\/?p=12676","title":{"rendered":"Saints&#039; Virgil Van Dijk&#039;s Admiration for Guardiola&#039;s Style Gives Man City Boost in Transfer Race"},"content":{"rendered":"<div readability=\"69.92777413\">\n<p class=\"\" data-label=\"Drop here...\">Southampton will face a steep, uphill battle if they&#8217;re to retain the services of their staunch centre back Virgil van Dijk next season.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Despite injury ruling him out for a large part of the second half of the season, the Dutch international has been a shining example to all defenders in the Premier League.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The former Celtic man\u00a0has amassed some\u00a0?credible admirers in the shape of Arsene Wenger, Jurgen Klopp, Antonio Conte, and Pep Guardiola. However, according to a report from the\u00a0Manchester Evening News, the 25-year-old has allegedly signalled his preference towards the latter.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><i class=\"wrapper\" contenteditable=\"false\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"image-container imageEmbedded\" contenteditable=\"false\" data-url=\"http:\/\/90min-images-original.s3.amazonaws.com\/production\/5904978b6071f4bb6b00000d.jpg\" data-large_url=\"https:\/\/media.gettyimages.com\/photos\/virgil-van-dijk-of-southampton-celebrates-as-he-scores-their-first-picture-id630618316?b=1&#038;k=6&#038;m=630618316&#038;s=612x612&#038;w=0&#038;h=8BTUoYdfXtWoJgCxP7tA1ZusL8NBW8JGapdXujKSm-E=\" data-title=\"Southampton v Tottenham Hotspur - Premier League\" data-description=\"SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 28:  Virgil van Dijk of Southampton celebrates as he scores their first goal during the Premier League match between Southampton and Tottenham Hotspur at St Mary's Stadium on December 28, 2016 in Southampton, England.  (Photo by Julian Finney\/Getty Images)\" data-credit=\"Julian Finney\/GettyImages\" data-date=\"2016-12-28\" data-ratio=\"16\/9\" data-crop=\"\"x\":0.05555555555555555,\"y\":0.04941860465116279,\"w\":0.9005083514887436,\"h\":0.9011627906976745\" data-getty_image=\"true\" data-afp_image=\"false\" data-licensor=\"GettyImages\" data-is-animated=\"false\" data-width=\"undefined\" data-height=\"undefined\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/media.minutemediacdn.com\/process?url=http%3A%2F%2F90min-images-original.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fproduction%2F5904978b6071f4bb6b00000d.jpg&#038;filters%5Bcrop%5D%5Bw%5D=0.9005083514887436&#038;filters%5Bcrop%5D%5Bh%5D=0.9011627906976745&#038;filters%5Bcrop%5D%5Bo_x%5D=0.05555555555555555&#038;filters%5Bcrop%5D%5Bo_y%5D=0.04941860465116279&#038;filters%5Bquality%5D%5Btarget%5D=80&#038;type=.jpg&#038;filters%5Bresize%5D%5Bw%5D=578&#038;filters%5Bresize%5D%5Bh%5D=325\" alt=\"Southampton v Tottenham Hotspur - Premier League\" title=\"Julian Finney\/GettyImages\" data-licensor=\"GettyImages\"\/><\/div>\n<p><\/i><\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-label=\"Drop here...\">The south-coast\u00a0club&#8217;s imposing centre back\u00a0is said to be a fan of Guardiola&#8217;s tactics, with defenders being urged to play out from the back, in order to contribute towards the\u00a0attacking phases.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-label=\"Drop here...\">The Saints are widely-rumoured  to be holding out for at least \u00a350m for their robust defensive star, and with the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss poised to clear out his defensive ranks in the summer, Van Dijk&#8217;s wish could soon become a reality.<\/p>\n<p><i class=\"wrapper\" contenteditable=\"false\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"image-container imageEmbedded\" contenteditable=\"false\" data-url=\"http:\/\/90min-images-original.s3.amazonaws.com\/production\/5904d8b25906e7e7c2000001.jpg\" data-large_url=\"https:\/\/media.gettyimages.com\/photos\/manchester-citys-ivorian-midfielder-and-captain-yaya-toure-vies-with-picture-id499041092?b=1&#038;k=6&#038;m=499041092&#038;s=612x612&#038;w=0&#038;h=ES8R3reXD3xbleqAvxuL1HDVb-IblfxVms6oH10rBz8=\" data-title=\"FBL-ENG-PR-MAN CITY-SOUTHAMPTON\" data-description=\"Manchester City's Ivorian midfielder and captain Yaya Toure (L) vies with Southampton's Dutch defender Virgil van Dijk during the English Premier League football match between Manchester City and Southampton at The Etihad stadium in Manchester, north west England on November 28, 2015. AFP PHOTO \/ PAUL ELLIS\n\nRESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club\/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 75 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club\/league\/player publications. \/ AFP \/ PAUL ELLIS        (Photo credit should read PAUL ELLIS\/AFP\/Getty Images)\" data-credit=\"PAUL ELLIS\/GettyImages\" data-date=\"2015-11-28\" data-ratio=\"16\/9\" data-crop=\"\"x\":0,\"y\":0.12857142857142856,\"w\":0.9973949579831932,\"h\":0.8003571428571429\" data-getty_image=\"true\" data-afp_image=\"false\" data-licensor=\"GettyImages\" data-is-animated=\"false\" data-width=\"undefined\" data-height=\"undefined\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/media.minutemediacdn.com\/process?url=http%3A%2F%2F90min-images-original.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fproduction%2F5904d8b25906e7e7c2000001.jpg&#038;filters%5Bcrop%5D%5Bw%5D=0.9973949579831932&#038;filters%5Bcrop%5D%5Bh%5D=0.8003571428571429&#038;filters%5Bcrop%5D%5Bo_x%5D=0.0&#038;filters%5Bcrop%5D%5Bo_y%5D=0.12857142857142856&#038;filters%5Bquality%5D%5Btarget%5D=80&#038;type=.jpg&#038;filters%5Bresize%5D%5Bw%5D=578&#038;filters%5Bresize%5D%5Bh%5D=325\" alt=\"FBL-ENG-PR-MAN CITY-SOUTHAMPTON\" title=\"PAUL ELLIS\/GettyImages\" data-licensor=\"GettyImages\"\/><\/div>\n<p><\/i><\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-label=\"Drop here...\">The prospect of working with the illustrious Spanish manager at the Etihad will certainly be a tantalising notion for the strapping Southampton captain, so a proposed move to the Sky Blues would be a highly plausible one indeed. <\/p>\n<p>Although, due to the hefty array of rival suitors which are vying to acquire his prolific services this summer, it&#8217;s billed to be a behemoth battle for his signature, with Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea all preparing to compete with Manchester City.<\/p>\n<p><i class=\"wrapper\" contenteditable=\"false\"><\/p>\n<p><iframe src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/HiExHjFVBp8\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" class=\"Youtube embed--Youtube embed--generic-iframe embeded-video-player\"\/><\/p>\n<p><\/i>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Southampton will face a steep, uphill battle if they&#8217;re to retain the services of their staunch centre back Virgil van Dijk next season.\u00a0 Despite injury ruling him out for a large part of the second half of the season, the Dutch international has been a shining example to all defenders in the Premier League.\u00a0 The [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2237,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12676","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-southampton"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.violetsport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12676","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.violetsport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.violetsport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.violetsport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.violetsport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12676"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.violetsport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12676\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.violetsport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.violetsport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12676"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.violetsport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12676"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.violetsport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12676"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}