One of the longest running transfer sagas in Premier League history could be about to end, because it looks like Virgil van Dijk is finally on his way to Liverpool.
According to The Daily Telegraph‘s Jeremy Wilson, Liverpool have agreed a transfer with Southampton for Van Dijk worth £75m – a world record fee for a defender. The report claims that the two Premier League clubs have been in negotiations for the player over the past few days, and have finally reached an agreement.
Back in the summer, reports emerged that Van Dijk had agreed to join Liverpool in a deal worth £60m. However, Southampton got wind of the reported agreement between the player and the club, and they weren’t happy. They raised the issue with the Premier League, but, before things could develop any further, Liverpool performed an embarrassing U-turn and backed away from the transfer.
But it appears the two clubs have put that incident behind them and have finally reached an agreement for the Dutch defender. Van Dijk made it known that he wanted to leave Southampton in the summer, and missed the start of the season before being reintegrated back into the first-team. Mauricio Pellegrino has since left the 26-year-old out of the first-team squad for games against Chelsea, Huddersfield Town and Tottenham Hotspur. It appears Southampton now feel it’s better to reinvest Van Dijk’s transfer fee on new players, rather than keep someone who wants to play for another club.
The report also claims that Manchester City and Chelsea were interested in signing Van Dijk, and City were preparing a £60m bid for the player. But Liverpool have managed to stay ahead of their rivals in the negotiations, and the deal could even be done before the transfer window opens on Monday.
Virgil van Dijk to Liverpool to be announced tonight. Undergone medical today. Joins on January 1.
— paul joyce (@_pauljoyce) December 27, 2017
Van Dijk will reportedly be paid £180,000 a week. If the deal goes through, he will become the world’s most expensive defender, eclipsing the £54m City paid last summer for full-back Kyle Walker.
