Everton manager Ronald Koeman is reportedly planning a £40 million swoop for Southampton centre-back Virgil van Dijk according to reports. The 25-year-old Dutchman has impressed ever since he arrived at the south coast from Celtic in 2015. Koeman is already in search of a prolific centre-back after losing John Stones to Manchester City in the summer.
van Dijk has played a key role for the Saints this season and has started all 13 of their league games so far. He also put in a stellar performance in a 1-0 win against Koeman’s Everton side in their last league outing.
Also Read: EPL Transfer Rumour: Manchester United and Liverpool set to battle it out for Virgil van Dijk
Everton don’t seem to be intimidated by the huge price tag attached to the defender after the club’s majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri revealed earlier last month that the club will have a huge transfer kitty to strengthen their squad in January.
Moshiri told radio station Talksport, “We tried to buy Kalidou Koulibaly of Napoli and they wanted £60M. It is monopoly money. We went right to the asking price and they decided not to sell.”
van Dijk signed a new six-year deal with the Saints in May but that has not stopped interest for the Dutchman from top Premier League clubs including Manchester United and Liverpool.
Everton’s poor run of form concerns Koeman
Everton have had a poor run of form recently and have won only one out of their last eight league games. Koeman has revealed that he is not impressed with the team’s performances.
The Everton boss said, “I’m not worried about results I am worried about what I see on the pitch. How we start games, the way that we have difficulty to have good organisation in the team, to stop the qualities and strengths of opponents.”
van Dijk is likely to be involved in Southampton’s League Cup game against Arsenal tomorrow and will look to impress his onlookers yet again, particularly Koeman, who brought him to the Premier League in 2015. The Dutchman has also established himself as a regular for the Netherlands national team and has 12 caps already.
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