Van Dijk: Southampton a perfect fit for me

The centre-half has made eight appearances for Ronald Koeman’s team since his move from Celtic on the final day of the summer transfer window, scoring two important goals as well.

Van Dijk, who has formed an impressive partnership with José Fonte at the heart of defence, is pleased at how quickly he has been able to adapt to life at St Mary’s.

"I think all of the players have given me a warm welcome and also the people who work at the club,” he told reporters ahead of today's game against Bournemouth.

"It's a great bunch of boys we have here and every day is a great day and we have a great group with a lot of talent and a lot of quality, so I'm enjoying every minute."

The 24-year-old, who has made his debut for the Dutch national team since arriving at Southampton, added: “It's such a great club, a warm club and it's a club that keeps improving, has great ambitions and that suits me, definitely. I think it was the perfect club for me."

Saints will be aiming to strengthen their position in the top half of the Premier League with a win against the Cherries this afternoon, and van Dijk believes they have the capacity to enjoy another memorable season.

"The club is a club with a lot of ambitions, it's a club going up and I think that suits me," he said.

"We have a lot of ambitions and we want to do better than last year.

"Even last year was, I think, a good year for Southampton, but that says a lot about what we think and what kind of mindset the team is.

"We want to get the maximum out of ourselves and we know what we can do if we be at our best.

"It's six unbeaten at the moment and we want to keep going. It's about playing good and winning games, so we will see what happens."

On working with his fellow countryman, Koeman, van Dijk said: "It's a great honour to work for him. He was a fantastic player himself and he's managed also a lot of big clubs in Europe, so every day it's a learning day and it's an honour to work for him."