Southampton saw us pay £50M last year for Stones I think they will try and hold out for a bit more for a player who is probably more sought after with a slightly better reputation and still young.
Van Dijk though is significantly older than Stones, and the passing aspect of Stones game is better. I haven't seen better. Stones lets himself down with his basic defending. I think if Stones gets a season alongside Kompany he will develop but last season he lacked any regular partner. VVD defensive game is better at the moment and we need cover in case Kompany gets injured.
Although hes older he is not too old that given the same length of contract he will be too old at the end of it. I don't know who will be the better player in the long term but looking at it form Southamptons point of view We were prepared to pat £50M for Stones and did not appear to have too many competitors for his signature (Although Chelsea had bid less than half the price a year previously) Whereas this time Liverpool and Chelsea both appear to want him and Southampton probably want to keep there best player to. I think they drive a pretty hard bargain if VVD forces a move,
He is recovering from an ankle injury , you and I might think £70M expensive but Southampton hold many of the cards. If we buy him I suspect it will be for more than £50M though possibly less than £70M
I don't know how much we want him or even whether it is just a red herring, but I've seen us pay some fairly large sums for players recently who we've wanted and Southampton have as well (They also managed to get some fairly large sums for Shaw, Lallana and Lovren). There have probably been a few deals we have walked away from (Pogba being one) but I wouldn't be surprised if with add ons we top £60M if we get him.