VIRGIL van Dijk returned to Saints on Monday for pre-season training – along with a number of other St Mary’s stars.

The towering centre-back arrived at Staplewood this morning to begin preparations for next season under new boss Claude Puel.

Van Dijk was one of Saints’ best performers last season, scooping an award double at the end of an excellent campaign for Players’ Players and Supporters’ Player of the Year.

The £13m defender, who recently signed a six year contract at Saints, was put through his paces on the treadmill before taking to Staplewood’s giant training dome for further testing.

The 24-year-old, who turns 25 this Friday, was joined by another of Saints’ outstanding performers from last season, Dusan Tadic.

The Serbian got 12 assists and eight goals last season as Saints finished sixth in the Premier League.

Japanese defender Maya Yoshida and Cuco Martina also returned as preparations got underway for next term.

The club’s international stars who have been, or are still, at Euro 2016 will link-up with Saints for their trip to Holland that starts on July 22. 

England's Ryan Bertrand and Fraser Forster along with Northern Ireland captain Steven Davis and Republic of Ireland striker Shane Long have already started their post-Euros breaks.

Graziano Pelle was pictured sunning himself by a pool while on holiday yesterday after Italy were defeated in a penalty shooutout to Germany in the quarter-final on Saturday.

Jose Fonte and Cedric Soares meanwhile are the two remaining Saints men still in the fight for Euros glory with Portugal.

Fernando Santos' side face Wales in a semi-final on Wednesday night. 

All seven who have competed at the tournament will then join up their Saints team-mates for friendlies against PEC Zwolle (July 23), FC Twente (July 27) and FC Groningen (30 July). 

New manager Puel took his first pre-season training on Friday, with the likes of James Ward-Prowse, Oriol Romeu, Charlie Austin, Jay Rodriguez , Jordy Clasie, Harrison Reed and Nathan Redmond in attendance.

Those senior players were joined by a host of the club’s youngsters.