It has been a transfer story that’s rumbled on all summer but so far Liverpool haven’t been able to prise Virgil van Dijk away from Southampton.

The Saints weren’t happy with Liverpool’s early pursuit of the defender, they even went as far as complaining that the Merseyside club had tapped their player up. Liverpool quickly stepped away from any deal, even apologising for the way they handled things:

“Liverpool Football Club would like to put on record our regret over recent media speculation regarding Southampton Football Club and player transfers between the two clubs,”

 “We apologise to the owner, board of directors and fans of Southampton for any misunderstanding regarding Virgil van Dijk. We respect Southampton’s position and can confirm we have ended any interest in the player.”

Since then Southampton have told the Dutch international defender to train alone after he told new Saints boss Mauricio Pellegrino ‘he is not available to play because he wants to leave.‘

Both Manchester City and Chelsea have been linked with moves for Van Dijk but it seems the former Celtic man has his heart set on a move to Anfield.

I think the time is right for Southampton and Liverpool to get together and thrash out a deal.

If Van Dijk no longer wants to play for Southampton and more importantly isn’t willing to play, then surely it’s better to get big money for him and ship him out. No player is bigger than the club. Yes he’s a very good defender but he isn’t irreplaceable.

Saints fans might want to see him rot on the sidelines but really isn’t that just cutting your nose off despite your face? Get the cash in and forget about him. The days of Matt Le Tissier’s kind of loyalty have gone, unfortunately!

It will be better for Pellegrino to get the money in for Van Dijk and spend it on improving his squad. Get between £55m and £65m for the centre-back and you can bring two or three very good players in. That will benefit the team. The quicker they get these players in the better for the club and the new coach.

I understand that the Southampton board don’t want to be bullied, especially by Liverpool who have taken stars from St Mary’s quite a few times now, but they won that initial battle, with the Reds publicly apologising. They can now come to the table with a stronger hand.

Obviously signing Van Dijk will be a big coup for Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp. He will see it as the club beating other title challengers to one of the best central defenders in the Premier League.

Van Dijk offers Liverpool more consistency at the back and a target in the opposition penalty area too. Decent pace and strong in the air, he’d compliment Joel Matip or Dejan Lovren at heart of Liverpool’s defence.

But for his services then Liverpool will have to offer Southampton a world record fee for a defender. The Reds will also have to keep an eye on Barcelona as the Catalan giants might make similar moves on Philippe Coutinho! The Saints fans will no doubt look at Barca’s strong interest in Coutinho with a smile on their face.

Hopefully a deal for Virgil van Dijk can be done soon and we can put this saga to an end.

Posted on August 5th, 2017 by scott
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