Arsène Wenger has already met with Southampton defender Virgil Van Dijk, according to reports.

Van Dijk has been involved in a transfer saga all summer, as he pushes to move away from Southampton. Originally, he seemed to be getting close to a move to Liverpool, only for Southampton to threaten to report the Merseyside club to the Premier League, since the Saints claimed they hadn’t given permission to Van Dijk to talk to Jurgen Klopp’s side.

What followed was a hasty statement from Liverpool to apologise and confirm that they had “ended any interest in the player”. Van Dijk seemed disappointed at this turn of events, and the situation only worsened as time went by, with reports that he had refused to train and was being kept away from the first-team until he was in the right frame of mind to return.

Van Dijk himself then released a statement where he claimed that he had handed in a transfer request as a result of the disciplinary sanctions against him, which he felt to be unjustified. He also mentioned that multiple top clubs had shown interest in him, but all had been turned away by Southampton.

As for the reasons why the player signed a six-year-deal with the club only to request a transfer the next summer, these are unclear.

However, the latest rumours are that Arsène Wenger met with the defender earlier in the summer. The source isn’t a particularly reliable one, as the news comes from the Arsenal Footballistically podcast (via 101greatgoals.com), where Josh Landy claimed to have heard it from a “terrific source”.

But if you believe the rumours, Arsène apparently had a discussion with Van Dijk in May where Virgil seemed keen to join the Gunners, but not so keen on the uncertainty around the club, as Wenger hadn’t yet signed a new deal.

Van Dijk is clearly a talented player, but whoever plans to add him to their side will want to get things wrapped up as soon as possible before the situation gets even more complicated.