Ok, so here’s the latest with Virgil van Dijk.
It’s changing every six hours, so we hope you read this nice and quickly before this article becomes obsolete!
For the third consecutive match, Southampton have left Virgil van Dijk out of their Match Day squad. They face Spurs today but the Dutchman didn’t travel. He’s not injured and he’s preparing for an exit – that much is abundantly obvious…
SEE MORE:
The ‘Van Dijk to LFC’ journalist explains why only he’s published the story
Following the summer horror-show when the LFC-connected correspondents jumped the gun on reporting the transfer, which led to Southampton reporting us to the Premier League for tapping up, they’ve been extremely quiet on any developments – likely at the request of the club.
As a result, we’re relying on Southampton connected journalist Kevin Palmer for information. His latest report, published this morning, claims that Southampton will now encourage a bidding war for their prize asset.
Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea all want van Dijk and despite the player having an eagerness to join Jurgen Klopp, it’ll depend entirely on who Southampton choose to sell to. Naturally, their choice will almost definitely depend on who’s willing to pay the most money.
Importantly, they’re happy to negotiate with Liverpool and are not holding our summer indiscretion against us.
But like with Liverpool and Coutinho, Southampton are in a position of power.
Their greatest ever player Matt Le Tissier has stoked the fires by claiming the centre-back is actually too good for Liverpool, as well.
I know i mess about a bit on here but heres my serious thoughts on vvd .. at his best hes better than lfc (no disrespect intended at all) hes not been at his best for a year, if he gets back to it after a transfer he’ll prob be at barca or real m within a year or so 👍🏻
— Matt Le Tissier🌸 (@mattletiss7) December 26, 2017
This is complete tosh, especially given van Dijk’s poor form this season, but it adds some tension to proceedings nonetheless.
We can reveal that Liverpool have made an offer close to Southampton’s valuation, but the south coast club will use it to encourage City to offer more.
It now depends on what money City are willing to offer. If it’s more than we are, van Dijk will end up in Manchester. If it isn’t, he won’t.