By spending up to £75 million to buy Virgil Van Diijk from Southampton, Liverpool have turned the Dutch defender into the most expensive player in history in his position. Not only that, Van Dijk has also become the player with the most valuable transfer value in the history of The Kop. Against Van Dijk, the highest price for a defender was only 50 million pounds (transfer value of John Stones, Kyle Walker and David Luiz).
In fact, Liverpool have been chasing the Dutchman since the 2017 summer transfer window. At that time, Southampton offered him £75 million and The Kop refused. However, now, the Anfield team has spent the right amount of money to welcome Van Dijk back. Why is that?
Liverpool should look at Manchester City's successful lesson. The Citizens want any player to buy them at the most reasonable price possible for both sides. In return, Pep Guardiola's team has a very large force to fight on all fronts. Liverpool have run out of steam in the Premier League and now need to focus resources on the Champions League.
Another more convincing reason is the issue of expertise. Klopp's team must not have been able to forget the scenario of losing 3 goals in 5 minutes they experienced in the match against Arsenal in round 19. No matter how good the attack is, if the defense system is loose, the result will still be a feat.
Liverpool chose Van Dijk partly because of this player's experience in the Premier League. Not only that, with his intelligence in playing style and his ability to be brave in disputes, Van Dijk will supplement the missing elements at Anfield.
With Van Dijk welcomed, Liverpool fans are waiting every day to see who will leave so that the club can ensure financial balance. The name being targeted is Philippe Coutinho. Because Barcelona itself asked to buy the Brazilian midfielder last summer for £ 110 million. The club have yet to make any move to show they will abandon the deal since selling Neymar to PSG.
