One Red has done exactly what most fans would do were they just metres away from Virgil van Dijk and asked the Dutchman to join Liverpool this summer.
It seems fair to suggest the likelihood is that the Southampton man does want an Anfield move but, as Liverpool and Van Dijk himself have realised, this is far from a straight forward deal.
The £70million man is Jurgen Klopp’s undeniable first choice defensive target, something made no secret by the club’s eventually costly public approach.
Though Van Dijk himself seemingly set his heart on a switch to Liverpool as opposed to Manchester City and Chelsea, any hopes of landing him remain in tatters after Southampton issued a complaint against an apparent illegal pursuit, subsequently leading to the Reds ‘ending all interest’ in the player.
Rumours have inevitably picked up since then with many suspecting a deal may still be possible, even despite the Saints insisting they will not be negotiating with Liverpool.
One supporter has taken it upon himself to track Van Dijk down during his pre-season travels and suggest he joins.
Albanian #LFC fan asking Van Dijk to come to Liverpool, VVD turns round and smiles😉pic.twitter.com/wEKHi1VXfe
— Anfield Express (@AnfieldExpress) July 15, 2017
“Van Dijk come to Liverpool” shouts the fan, to which a Southampton representative cleverly replies: “We’ve given you too many.”
Liverpool of course have a well known history of luring players from St Mary’s, with Adam Lallana, Nathaniel Clyne, Rickie Lambert, Dejan Lovren and Sadio Mane all having made the move to Merseyside in recent years.
Though it by no means represents a new development, it comes as the latest feature of what has become a long-running saga. Will he? Won’t he? We’ll see.
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