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What’s the story?
Liverpool lacked a solid defender at the back during their 5-0 loss to Manchester City. The main reason was that Liverpool failed to sign a defender in the summer and that is one thing that bothers Jurgen Klopp a lot.
However, Ian McGarry of the Transfer Window Podcast has claimed that they will be signing Virgil van Dijk in January. Speaking on the podcast, McGarry said:
"I spoke to a close friend of his and Van Dijk definitely believed his deal to Liverpool was all agreed in terms of his personal terms in terms of this transfer window that's just closed. He will join them in January."
The report in Daily Star claims that McGarry even revealed that the main reason for the transfer to collapse was the takeover of Southampton by Chinese owners. The club didn't need funds from his sale to bring in new players and that blocked his move.
In case you didn’t know...
Liverpool were keen on signing Van Dijk in the summer but spoke to him before agreeing a deal with Southampton. The Saints threatened to take action against the reds and that forced them to issue a public apology.
They were forced to withdraw their bid for the player but they did not end their interest in him. They made a move late in the window again but was rebuffed Southampton as they stood by their decision of not selling the club captain.
The Saints made the decision to not sell Van Dijk after the Dutch defender rejected a move to Chelsea. Southampton were interested in cashing-in on him but were not interested in selling him to Liverpool – the only club Van Dijk wanted to join.
Also read: 5 players who rejected Chelsea this summer
The heart of the matter
Ian McGarry is confident that Liverpool will sign Virgil van Dijk in January. He also believes that it will solve their defensive issue.
What’s next?
Liverpool and Southampton are very close to agreeing a deal for Van Dijk. the only reason they did not sell him in the summer was that they wanted to stand by what they said.
Despite being the club captain, Van Dijk had handed in a transfer request to force the move. He's now set to feature for them in the coming months before heading for his dream move to Anfield.
Also read: Leo Messi reportedly makes final decision on Barcelona's new contract offer
Author’s Take
Van Dijk would be a brilliant signing for Liverpool but will it solve their defensive issues? Nope. They need to sign one more centre-back as Lovren and Matip are lacking competition.
