Southampton chairman Ralph Krueger has denied Virgil van Dijk could be for sale now that ownership of the Saints has changed hands.

The Gao family completed an 80% takeover of the club this week, which led to speculation that their stance on van Dijk, who has been targeted by Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester City, would be softened.

Krueger also stated that the reason for the Saints defiance was because it is statement the club needed to make moving forward.

"Virgil is not for sale in this window and it's not personal," said Krueger.

"It's not about him, it's about an overall much, much, much bigger picture - a change of course for Southampton.

He continued: "That's one player in this whole equation of 25 and it is the visible one, but for us it's the principle and it's the path and it's the statement we need to make to get to a new space as a club.

"We are very, very adamant about carrying this through.

"The new partnership has completely and wholly backed our strategy and plan and on September 1 people will see how serious we were and are."