Virgil van Dijk has finally become a Liverpool player.
On Wednesday evening, Liverpool confirmed that they have agreed to sign Van Dijk from Southampton in a transfer worth £75m – a world record fee for a defender.
After months of speculation, and an aborted transfer for the player back in the summer, the Dutch defender will officially join the club on January 1.
Liverpool thought they were about to sign the 26-year-old before the season started, after reports emerged that Van Dijk had agreed to join Jurgen Klopp’s side in a deal worth £60m. However, Southampton weren’t happy about the reported agreement between the player and the club, and they raised the issue with the Premier League. Before the situation could develop any further, Liverpool backed away from the transfer.
Virgil van Dijk is worth the price tag because Liverpool simply had to stop mucking around, writes @ConanDoherty https://t.co/fg6xtEjFIT pic.twitter.com/RSfLVAHExB
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) December 27, 2017
However, according to reports, the two Premier League clubs had been in negotiations for the player over the past few days, after Southampton decided it was in their interests to sell him and reinvest in their squad. Manchester City and Chelsea were reportedly interested in Van Dijk, but he was evidently determined to move to Anfield. He’ll earn a reported £180,000 a week.
https://twitter.com/SportsJOE_UK/status/946089497392902144
The transfer has understandably sparked interest, even among non-Liverpool fans, and the transfer fee has become a talking point. Transfer fees stopped making a sense a long time ago, but the £75m fee for Van Dijk has got a lot of people talking – including Manchester United supporters.
For some, the fee represents further evidence of how “mad” football has become. While many United fans accused their Liverpool counterparts of double standards. As far as they were concerned, Liverpool supporters criticised United for spending £90m on Paul Pogba in 2016, but the same fans were extremely excited about their club paying £75m for Van Dijk, and had no issue with the fee involved.
When they call you a waste of money but sign Van Dijk for £75m pic.twitter.com/lg1AUuQ1dE
— Fred The Red (@redfreddevil) December 27, 2017
Imagine saying 89 million for pogba is a joke and then paying 75 million for Van Dijk 😂😂😂😭
— 💩 (@TouchofPogba) December 27, 2017
https://twitter.com/DrawtyDevil/status/946110096890892288
https://twitter.com/JamesMUFC96/status/946096465100681216
https://twitter.com/MaarMufc/status/946096416706805761
https://twitter.com/FutboIEthan/status/946065924783837184
Klopp when Manchester United signed Pogba for £89m:
“The day that this is football, I’m not in a job anymore.”
A year later, Klopp signs:
Oxlade Chamberlain – £35m
Van Dijk – £75m#MUFC pic.twitter.com/ONbUv7kIjF— MUFC Scoop (@MUFCScoop) December 27, 2017
