Southampton have reportedly promised Virgil van Dijk that he will be reintegrated into the first-team fold should he stay put at St Mary's.

The Dutch centre-back, who has been out of action since January due to a foot injury, recently handed in a transfer request after seeing his move to Liverpool blocked earlier in the summer.

According to The Mirror, however, Southampton are confident of keeping Van Dijk at the club for the 2017-18 season at least, because with the World Cup on the horizon, the player will want to keep playing regular football in the lead-up to the tournament.

The newspaper quotes an anonymous source as saying: "For three years out of every four, the player holds the upper hand in cases such as these.

"In the other one, the club does – as any player worth his salt wants to go to the World Cup. That's the reason why Southampton are so confident that Van Dijk will eventually return to the fold."

The Netherlands are currently third in Group A, three points behind top two nations Sweden and France.