Another day and another tabloid which reports that Liverpool are in for Virgil van Dijk in the summer. This time it is the Daily Mail that claims that we would be smashing our transfer record to sign the former Celtic defender.
We all remember that the transfer fee was broken at the start of last season when Sadio Mane joined us from Southampton. And it seems Jurgen Klopp is ready to raid the Saints again for possibly their best player this season.
The fact remains that Klopp needs to bring in quality defenders for the side and with Mamadou Sakho all but sure of leaving Anfield, Van Dijk would be a perfect player to bring in. The Dutch international has proved he can star in the Premier League and seems ready to step up to one of the top clubs in the country.
There are also reports which claim that Van Dijk is the number one priority for the German manager to bring into the club but there will be a tough battle as many other Premier League clubs are also interested in the 25-year-old.
The Reds have struggled with centre-backs this season as both Dejan Lovren and Joel Matip have had injury concerns. Additionally, Lovren isn’t the most popular defender and does have a history of making errors in games, something that is a concern to the Anfield faithful.
Southampton were paid £38.5 million for Sadio Mane last season and some of the figures being quoted for Van Dijk reach the £50 million mark. The Saints want to keep their Dutch international but know that they will have to sell when they receive such a crazy bid in the summer window.
There is no doubt that we need a top quality defender and Van Dijk checks all the boxes, now it would be over to the negotiation team if they can pull off this all-important transfer ahead of next season.
