According to reports in the London Evening Standard, Liverpool are ready to rival Chelsea for the signing of Southampton centre-back Virgil van Dijk this summer.
Prior to an injury the Dutchman suffered against Leicester City in January – which has seen him on the sidelines since – he was establishing himself as one of the best defenders in the Premier League.
Comfortable with the ball at his feet and strong in the air, the 25-year-old already looks as though he would slot in to any of the defences at the top clubs in Europe, but Reds boss Jurgen Klopp could be ready to make the first move as he looks to strengthen his shaky backline.
As he still has five years left to run on his Saints contract, Van Dijk won’t come on the cheap and the south coast outfit could demand more than £50m to secure his services at the end of the season.
Here are THREE reasons a move to Merseyside would be the wrong one for Van Dijk…
He can do better
To put it simply, Van Dijk has the talent to secure a move to a better club than Liverpool, with all due respect.
If the likes of Real Madrid and Barcelona were looking for a centre-back this summer – and the latter certainly might be – they would do a lot worse than to take a close look at the impressive Dutchman.
The 25-year-old will surely also have plenty of other options in the Premier League too, and the chance to go to the likely champions – Chelsea – or work under Pep Guardiola at Manchester City could be too good to turn down.
Trophies
The likes of Adam Lallana, Dejan Lovren, Sadio Mane and Nathaniel Clyne have made the move to Liverpool from Southampton in recent years as they felt the Merseyside club was more likely to challenge for titles and trophies.
While St Mary’s certainly isn’t a place to do that, it doesn’t appear Anfield is either with all of the aforementioned stars yet to win anything during their time with the Reds – which looks set to be the case again this term – while qualification for the Champions League certainly isn’t a guarantee either.
He would be more exposed
While Van Dijk is undoubtedly an excellent defender, he has certainly been helped out a little since he joined Southampton by the shielding he has received from the likes of Victor Wanyama and now Oriol Romeu in front of the back four.
With Liverpool often not looking set up well from a defensive point of view, it could leave the Dutchman exposed on more occasions – as Dejan Lovren found out when he moved to Anfield.
The Saints centre-back would be much more secure at Chelsea for example, where he would have the excellent N’Golo Kante deployed in front of him.
Do you agree, Saints and Liverpool fans? Let us know below.
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