Pellegrino: van Dijk now ‘part of the past’ ahead of return
Netherlands international van Dijk left the Saints to join Liverpool in a €85 million deal at the start of the January transfer window, making him the world's most expensive defender.
Reds boss Jurgen Klopp accepts "it will probably not be the most friendly'' welcome awaiting the centre-back on Sunday.
Pellegrino, though, wants everyone to move on from the protracted saga, with Southampton having made a healthy return from the €13.5m they paid to bring Van Dijk from Celtic in September 2015.
"We have to be grateful with him, and now we have to think Virgil is part of the past,'' the Argentine said. "But he did well in our club and he left some profit to the club. Now, we have to be focused in our game, in what we have to do.
Pellegrino continued at a press conference, as broadcast on the club's official website: "It is difficult, because there is no true [idea] about one situation -- one person can be grateful with him, and one person can say 'boo'.
"Every single person has an opinion about everybody, and we have to respect that, but I think our fans are really respectful with ex-players. I prefer our fans to be supportive of our (current) players, to be behind us.”