Man City pull out Interest in Southampton Star as Saints Demand £70m

Manchester City look to have pulled out of the race to sign Southampton defender Virgil van Dijk after the Saints slapped a whopping £70m price tag on him.

It was assumed that City would be able to sign the defender after Liverpool seemingly ended all interest in the player after Southampton were unhappy with their approach, but according to the ​Mirror, they are not prepared to meet that valuation.

The figure of £70m would easily make Van Dijk the most expensive defender of all time, but it looks like that title will remain with David Luiz, who cost Paris Saint-Germain £50m back in 2014.

The 25-year-old could well force a move away from the south coast club by way of a transfer request, but the club could still block that so his future is well and truly up in the air.

One other club reported to be interested in Van Dijk was Chelsea, and it remains to be seen now whether the Blues will try and negotiate with two of their rivals seemingly out of the way.

City do however remain in the hunt to sign Alexis Sanchez from Arsenal, who is currently on international duty with Chile, and have been reported by some outlets to have staved off competition from Chelsea and Bayern Munich for his signature.

Pep Guardiola has certainly been making tracks at the Etihad since the 2016/17 campaign concluded, having already signed Bernardo Silva and Ederson.