I did expect to come back to over 100 new pages on this...
In my eyes, unless a really stupid offer comes in, the board can no longer sell Virgil. We're too deep into the transfer window now. I don't care about his current sulk - anyone who didn't believe that was coming, is naïve in my eyes. So little has changed there. Good news about the formal transfer request though, thus saving us money if we do sell. If we were to sell Virgil - and for a decent price, I was fully supportive of it - then we should have done it by now. We're now going to play Swansea - and possibly more games thereafter - neither with Virgil nor anyone purchased with his sale proceeds. So the worst of both worlds for us. Yay. They've dug their heels in this long; they can't now fold. If Virgil is still here on 1 September, I can't believe that some sort of agreement wont be reached whereby he is quickly reintroduced into the fold.
But it does annoy me. Even if we keep him. As I allude to, we're now in a position where, in all likelihood, we're going to be understrength for the first three, four, five, six games of the season. Either because Virgil is here and but not match fit (and, at least initially, there is also no willingness to play), or because we haven't spent his sales proceeds. If the outcome is that we sell Virgil, well then we've wasted weeks of the transfer window. We'll have given the Leicester's and the Everton's and West Ham's a headstart. If the outcome is that we keep Virgil, then even if he ultimately fully integrates back into the team and performs like his old self, we still may have dropped points in these first few games that might not have been the case with him (or new signings in his place) in the team. And back to my ongoing point, wasting these first few games does honestly risk wasting the whole (league) season. So fast forward 12 months, and we're in the same position again with Virgil. Only then the likes of Romeu and Gabbi might be in the mix too. In both outcomes, we don't win (unless we keep him but also get the results in his absence).
(There's also the fact that we don't tend to spend more then what we receive in transfers. So unless that changes over the next three weeks, we may have little choice but to sell Virgil. We still need at least two players, possibly three, in my view - increasing by one more if Virgil goes. If that can only occur from selling - which I absolutely do not believe is the case, but seems to be the modus operandi of the club - then Virgil has to go, if we're not to slither down into the bottom half of the table)