In a sensational bit of news, it has come to light that Southampton defender Virgil Van Dijk held talks with both Chelsea and Manchester City before handing in a transfer request at the Saint Mary’s.
Van Dijk has established himself as one of the best defenders in the Premier League during the past couple of seasons, as a result of which a lot of top clubs have shown a keen interest in signing him up. And at the top of the pile was Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool. The Reds were always thought to be the next destination for Van Dijk, but the Merseysiders had to formally withdraw interest from the player after Southampton accused them of tapping up the player.
Now it is being reported that in a bid to move out of the Saint Mary’s Van Dijk had held a series of talks with top Premier League clubs like Chelsea and Manchester City. And these meetings were done without the permission of his current club. Liverpool were forced to apologize to Southampton for illegally approaching Van Dijk, with Chelsea and Man City both adopting a similar approach to Liverpool over fears that they too might be reported to the FA.
Van Dijk has been eager to move out of Southampton in order to look for a fresh challenge during the new season. But Saints manager, Mauricio Pellegrino has been adamant in the statement that the club will not part ways with the Dutch International. This stubborn stance from them has hurt the plans of Liverpool more than any other club as Jurgen Klopp desperately wants to bring in reinforcements before they set out to play in the Champions League once again.
News has also been floating around England that Jurgen Klopp has come to the realization that the Van Dijk transfer might be hard to accomplish before the transfer window comes to a close as a result of which the German boss has started to look for other alternatives in the market.
