Liverpool recently decided to end the interest in Southampton defender Virgil van Dijk. This followed after an official complaint from Claude Puel’s team over the approach for the Dutch defender. Liverpool were ready to pay as much as £50 million for the transfer of the defender, who has been on the eyes of clubs like Chelsea and Manchester City. One of the biggest failings for Liverpool last season was the poor defence, and this is a reason behind the club being ready to break the transfer fee for the central defender. Now with the option having evaporated, it might have been assumed that Southampton were safe from any more approaches from Liverpool.
It has not been the case, as we have been reportedly linked with a move for Dusan Tadic (The Times). The 28-year-old was one of the key players for Southampton last season. The attacking midfielder represented the club in 33 league matches while scoring three goals and registering five assists. It is believed that he has a £13 million release clause in his contract, which does not come to an end in at least three years. Tadic signed a new contract only last season, but Southampton did not expect such a massive jump from the player in terms of contribution.
Tadic came to Southampton only in 2014. Even though Liverpool are rich in options with attacking midfielders, manager Jurgen Klopp is believed to be keen on making the move for the 28-year-old in order to strengthen the squad so that it can handle the four different competitions at the same time. After a long wait, Liverpool have made the return to Champions League football by finishing ahead of Arsenal. Even though there is the small matter of qualifying for the group stages, it is widely expected that the Reds would progress without any difficulties.
In such an instance, Klopp might face the possibility of overworking his players due to the large number of games. Strengthening the squad, therefore, is of paramount importance. A player like Tadic will be able to add some creativity to the centre of the park whenever players like Adam Lallana are unavailable. If Liverpool continue their pursuit of Tadic, he could be yet another signing from the St Mary’s Stadium. We have signed the likes of Sadio Mane, Adam Lallana, and Dejan Lovren from Southampton in the past.
Liverpool have also been linked with Sporting CP’s Gelson Martins and Mohamed Salah of Roma.
