Liverpool have been linked with Virgil van Dijk since the dawn of time, well not really; but we have been interested in the Dutch defender for a while and the deal just does not seem to be getting over the line.
The 26-year-old is yet to play for the Saints this season after asking for a move away from the club and even though Southampton have stated that they are not looking to sell the Dutch defender, our former captain Steven Gerrard claims that we need the player more than ever.
As quoted the Express while speaking to BT Sport, the Englishman said:
“Yes (he is a necessity). For me if you want to compete in the league and in the Champions League (he is needed). It’s been well documented that we need two or three signings in.”
While we conceded in our first two games of the season, the match against Crystal Palace saw us keep our first clean sheet of the season.
So Near But Yet So Far
Van Dijk too was close to joining us and the deal was more or less complete until the Saints got upset and complained about us tapping up their player.
That led us to apologise and publicly end our pursuit of the 26-year-old but many believe that Van Dijk will be a Liverpool player sooner than later.
We do need one more quality centre-back and even if we have to break our transfer record to sign him up, it will be a good investment given that the former Celtic man knows the league really well and has been one of the most consistent players since moving to England.
Van Dijk has been training with the U23s currently and it does seem similar to a situation we have dealt with regarding Mamadou Sakho.
What we should try to do is line up a swap deal with the Saints and send Sakho the other way. It would ensure that they get a quality defender and we get a player that can take our defence at least to another level.
Frankly we are getting tired of all the news regarding Van Dijk and the sooner we can complete a deal for the defender, the better it would be for all of us. Unfortunately, it seems that we will have to wait until the last day of the window to bring the talented defender to Anfield.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfGjTY_eoVk
