Liverpool’s capture of Virgil van Dijk in January 2018 is now regarded as one of the most important transfers in modern football, but a former Southampton executive has admitted the Saints badly mishandled the situation.
Via ESPN UK, their former CEO Martin Semmens explained why the saga dragged on for months and ended with what he now calls an “embarrassing” chapter for the south coast club.
“We kept him until January. It wasn’t good for the squad or the environment, but to be clear, Virgil never said one negative word to anybody.
“We felt, at the time, we could get more if he stayed. He’d had a bad injury, I think he’d been out for six to nine months, and we felt that he owed us, which is embarrassing now, I think back to it.
“There was also some contact from Liverpool we didn’t love. At that time, probably a little more for the morals, he had already met Klopp before he told us.”
If we then consider the same man has labelled another Liverpool defender ‘the next Van Dijk’, we should be excited by our current squad too.
Van Dijk’s Liverpool transfer changed everything
Van Dijk’s £75m move to Anfield set a world-record fee for a defender at the time, but within 18 months he was a Champions League winner and now a two-time Premier League champion with us.
The Dutchman went on to win UEFA Men’s Player of the Year in 2019 and finished second in the Ballon d’Or behind Lionel Messi.
He’s now got such a standing in the game that former clubs are naming stands after the man who is still at the peak of his powers at Anfield.
Few signings have ever had such an immediate and lasting impact on a side, with our back line transformed overnight.
It is a reminder of how decisive Liverpool can be in the transfer market, just as we were again this summer with the arrivals of Florian Wirtz for £116m and Alexander Isak for a British record £125m.
Liverpool made the right call with Van Dijk
While Southampton now admit their handling of the saga was poor, the defender’s move to Merseyside reshaped our history.
From Madrid nights to lifting the Premier League trophy, Van Dijk’s arrival is proof of why the club must always back bold moves in the transfer market.
You can view the quote on Van Dijk via @ESPNUK on X:
Former Southampton CEO has admitted he considers Saints' handling of Virgil van Dijk's 2018 move to Liverpool as "embarrassing" 😳
🗣️ "We kept him until January. It wasn’t good for the squad or the environment, but to be clear, Virgil never said one negative word to anybody.… pic.twitter.com/fLXXECbhm2
— ESPN UK (@ESPNUK) September 12, 2025
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I actually find the way Saints handled the Van Dijk situation back then quite good. LFC had raided them several times in a short period of time before, and they were actually very aware of their request not going to be exactly welcome (see “How to Win the Premier League: The Inside Story of Football’s Data Revolution” by Ian Graham).
Saints, like every PL club, needed to keep their team competitive. They deserve some respect, even if they are considered a “small” club. They decided that Van Dijk would leave when they were ready to let him go. I consider this absolutely adequate and – in that case – quite admirable.