Writing in his column for The Mirror, former Reds striker, Stan Collymore, penned some strange suggestions about our imperious centre-half, Virgil van Dijk.
Collymore said: “I know Pep Guardiola has said he’ll prioritise a full-back and a defensive midfielder in the summer.
“But if I was him the first person I’d be targeting is Virgil van Dijk.
“I’d offer John Stones and Nicolas Otamendi plus £150million for the Dutchman and I wouldn’t stop until Liverpool accepted my offer was simply too good to turn down.
“I know Jurgen Klopp has a long-term contract at Anfield and that, if don’t win the Premier League, they will finish probably finish second and won’t want to be selling their best players.
“Especially not to their rivals.
“But Van Dijk is one of those incredibly gifted athletes and would make any defence on Planet Earth significantly better.
“And if City want to become the dominant force they say they want to, then going all out for him would be a no-brainer.
“Van Dijk reads the game better than any other defender in the Premier League and is a bit old-school in that respect.”
I suppose we should take all of this as an incredible compliment really. Of course, every team in the world would benefit from Van Dijk’s tactical, defensive nous – but he’s our man!
Equally, we should take Collymore’s words with a pinch of salt; this is the same Stan who suggested that £75 million was too much to fork out for the Dutchman in the first place…
But for now, at least, the former Liverpool frontman is happy to claim that: “Van Dijk has to be worth at least £175m of anybody’s money and, while it’s easy to throw around statements such as ‘best in the world’, I really believe he is.”
The former striker-turned-pundit also proclaimed: “I see in Van Dijk someone who is unflustered and will go on, either with Liverpool or another club, to win many, many titles.
“And by the time he hangs up his boots, we could be talking about him in the same venerable tones as Sergio Ramos if he gets the chance to win as many titles either at Liverpool or elsewhere.”
Thanks Mr. Collymore, but we recommend you have a word with yourself. We already know that Van Dijk is the best in the world – we don’t need you to tell us, we don’t want the Sergio Ramos comparisons, and we definitely don’t need you to talk up his sale!
Van Dijk will be holding aloft “many, many” trophies at Liverpool, where he’ll be staying for “many, many” more seasons to come.